The metrical grid, the prosodic hierarchy, and the devices that
establish directional parsing effects are closely intertwined in
metrical stress theory. The metrical grid is the structure that
represents stress patterns. The locations of stressed positions on the
grid are constrained by the positions of categories in the prosodic
hierarchy. Both the metrical grid and the prosodic hierarchy are
manipulated by constraints, such as alignment constraints, that
establish directional orientations within these structures. Assumptions
about the representations affect the behavior of the constraints, and
the particular formulation of the constraints influences the ultimate
configuration of the representations.
Layering and Directionality is unique in the OT literature in that it
examines both halves of the equation. It addresses the formulation of
constraints that produce directional parsing effects, but it also
addresses assumptions concerning prosodic and metrical structure. The
book presents and defends three central proposals: the Weak Bracketing
approach to layering relationships between prosodic categories, the
Optimal Mapping approach to the relationship between prosodic categories
and the metrical grid, and the Relation-Specific Alignment approach to
parsing directionality. The book is also be unique in its coverage of OT
accounts, comparing the proposed approach to approaches that range from
Generalized Alignment in standard OT to the more recent Iterative Foot
Optimization couched within the framework of Harmonic Serialism. The
book draws extensively on the typological literature to evaluate the
predictions of the accounts examined.
