Recommended literature

The following references will prove useful when working on your project and report your results in your seminar paper.

Generally on learning and evolution:

Partha Niyogi. The Computational Nature of Language Learning an d Evolution. MIT Press, 2006. (Download earlier versions: part1, part2, part3, part4, or contact me.)

Learning in OT (EDCD and RCD); summary of metrical stress theory:

Bruce Tesar and Paul Smolensky (2000). Learnability in Optimality Theory, MIT Press.

Harmony Grammar:

Smolensky, Paul & Legendre, Géraldine (2006). The Harmonic Mind: From Neural Computation To Optimality-Theoretic Grammar Vol. 1: Cognitive Architecture; vol. 2: Linguistic and Philosophical Implications. MIT Press. Selected chapters only.

Boersma's GLA algorithm:

Paul Boersma & Bruce Hayes (2001). Empirical tests of the Gradual Learning Algorithm. Linguistic Inquiry 32: 45-86.

On hill climbing, simulated annealing (especially in OT) and string grammar:

The Benefits of Errors: Learning an OT Grammar with a Structured Candidate Set. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Aspects of Computational Language Acquisition, pp. 81-88. Prague, Czech Republic, June 2007. Download or download from ACL Anthology. ROA-929.

Metrical stress, OT and simulated annealing:

When the Hothead Speaks: Simulated Annealing Optimality Theory for Dutch Fast Speech, in: Ton van der Wouden, Michaela Poss, Hilke Reckman and Crit Cremers (eds.): Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands 200 4, Selected papers from the fifteenth CLIN meeting, LOT, Utrecht, 2005, pp. 13-28. Newer version, without some typos, but also without the page numbers and formatting as it appeared in print. ROA-898.

Please feel free to contact me any time, should you need more references concerning any subject covered in class and/or featuring in your project.

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