Complementizers, faithfulness, and optionality
Abstract
In this paper I advance a theory of optionality in syntax within OT, using the optionality of the English complementizer as an example. The leading idea is that optionality arises purely as a consequence of the usual optimality-theoretic interaction between markedness and faithfulness constraints. In other words, optionality is an expected consequence of violable and conflicting universal constraints and their language-particular ranking, the core assumptions of OT.