A Maximum Entropy Model of Phonotactics and Phonotactic Learning

TLDR

Phonotactics is a central topic in phonology, and a baseline model reducing Universal Grammar to a feature set and SPE‑style constraints can learn many phonotactic phenomena. The study proposes a theory of phonotactic grammars and a learning algorithm that constructs such grammars from positive evidence. The model uses maximum‑entropy weighted constraints to evaluate candidate words, automatically generating and weighting constraints, and is augmented with autosegmental tiers and metrical grids to capture nonlocal phenomena such as stress and vowel harmony. The learning algorithm produces grammars that capture both categorical and gradient phonotactic patterns, support learning‑theoretic representations of nonlocal phenomena, and accurately predict experimental findings in simulation studies.

Abstract

The study of phonotactics is a central topic in phonology. We propose a theory of phonotactic grammars and a learning algorithm that constructs such grammars from positive evidence. Our grammars consist of constraints that are assigned numerical weights according to the principle of maximum entropy. The grammars assess possible words on the basis of the weighted sum of their constraint violations. The learning algorithm yields grammars that can capture both categorical and gradient phonotactic patterns. The algorithm is not provided with constraints in advance, but uses its own resources to form constraints and weight them. A baseline model, in which Universal Grammar is reduced to a feature set and an SPE-style constraint format, suffices to learn many phonotactic phenomena. In order for the model to learn nonlocal phenomena such as stress and vowel harmony, it must be augmented with autosegmental tiers and metrical grids. Our results thus offer novel, learning-theoretic support for such representations. We apply the model in a variety of learning simulations, showing that the learned grammars capture the distributional generalizations of these languages and accurately predict the findings of a phonotactic experiment.