OTbank is a databank of constraints used in Optimality Theory, a contemporary, constraint-based model of phonological theory. OTbank's goal is to provide a unified collection of OT constraints and common definitions for those constraints.
OTbank is built with Django 2.2.7.
As Optimality Theory is a relatively young model and conceptions of constraints are nebulous and vary from author to author, there is motivation for a resource for:
- finding constraints that have been proposed and used in the literature, and
- understanding how they are defined and used by different authors.
Also, from a theoretical standpoint, it is useful to have a unified list of constraints, since classical OT holds that the set of constraints is universal and instantiated completely in every language.
OTbank is in the early stages of development. As of now, it currently can display a list of constraints and a list of definitions for each constraint, with tooltips for citations.
Currently, features to be implemented are as follows:
- Modern UI
- User submission for additional constraints and definitions
- LaTeX integration with ot-tableau for dynamic tableau generation
- Expansion into other linguistics domains, such as OT Syntax
For more information, contact me at lherrou@brandeis.edu.
I'd like to thank the following people:
- Prof. Plaster, for teaching me everything I know about phonology
- My classmates and students for inspiring me to create OTbank
- The denizens of Vertica, for psychological support and camaraderie