The Minimalist Program and Optimality Theory: Derivations and Evaluations
Hans Broekhuis, Joost Dekkers · 2000
Abstract Optimality Theory (OT) syntax is often considered to be an alternative to the Minimalist Program outlined in Chomsky (1995). This is by no means a necessary point of view. The very reason why OT syntax and the Minimalist Program are considered to be competitors may be invoked to reconcile the two approaches to syntax: OT deals with outputs, with representations, while the Minimalist Program is mainly concerned with derivations. In the present chapter, we will put forth reasons to assume that this complementarity should be exploited by combining the two frameworks.