Phonology and the Holy Grail

Current Optimality Theory (OT) is expanding, in terms of theoretical machinery, to include a number of novel types of constraints and constraint interactions. This expansion correlates closely with the application of the model to phonological phenomena outside its area of greatest strength, namely prosody. This paper argues that the considerable benefits of a constrained OT can be maintained if the model is restricted to prosody rather than melody: OT is not, in other words, a Theory of Everything in the sense of superstring theory in modern physics. It is claimed that the roots of the prosody––melody distinction lie in human evolutionary biology, and that indications of their separateness can still be found in connection of intonation with gesture and emotion, and in patterns of brain lateralisation.