On the Optimality Theoretic Status of “Unambiguous Encoding”

Abstract

In the present chapter, I am going to explore the relation between pragmatics and optimality theory (henceforth OT) in the area of disambiguation. My starting point will be an analysis of Icelandic object-shift and differential marking of (in)definite theme arguments in Tagalog. I argue that OT is able to capture the interaction of interpretive and morphosyntactic constraints involved there in a particularly insightful way. More specifically, a certain functional flavor of object-shift and argument marking, both arguably carried out for the purpose of disambiguation, comes out as the “emergence of the unmarked”.¹ A direct link between this property and the OT formalism will be postulated in terms of a family of (disambiguation) constraints called “Unambiguous Encoding” (henceforth UE). This is attractive to the extent that UE could be taken to be grounded in Gricean principles like “Be Perspicuous”, or “Avoid Ambiguity” (Grice, 1989, p. 27).²