Die Behandlung von Inkonsistenz in der Optimalit tstheorie

This paper analyses the treatment of inconsistencies in Optimality Theory by making use of the tools of the p-model of plausible argumentation by Kertész & Rákosi (2012). With the help of a case study it reconstructs and evaluates the most frequent methods applied by OT. It shows that these strategies are based on the reconstruction of inconsistencies as “weak” inconsistency and can be interpreted as the joint application of the “contrastive” and “combinative” strategies of the treatment of inconsistencies. Since the p-model interprets linguistic theorising as a problem solving process, it is capable of describing the characteristic of OT that it subscribes a constitutive role to the continuous emergence and resolution of inconsistencies. Therefore, it is possible to compare the techniques applied by OT to the handling of inconsistencies by Government and Binding Theory.