OCP EFFECTS IN OPTIMALITY THEORY

The Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) forbids representations in whic h identical elements are adjacent. A sequence of two high tones, for e xample, is avoided in a variety of ways: one of the tones is deleted o r retracted away from the other, or the two are fused into a single hi gh tone. Processes that would create such a sequence are blocked. The problem is how to derive all these different ways of avoiding this con figuration from a single principle. It is argued here that Optimality Theory (OT) provides the means to derive the full range of dissimilato ry effects from the OCP, through the ranking of the OCP with Faithfuln ess constraints. Examples of tonal dissimilation in three Bantu langua ges are examined: Shona, Rimi, and Kishambaa. The analysis supports th e OT interpretation of constraints as violable and ranked.