The Rise of Optimality Theory in First Century Palestine
The Rise of Optimality Theory in First Century Palestine
OT is not so much a theory of phonology or syntax as a philosophy of life. Life makes conflicting demands, and to satisfy some we must violate others. OT proposes that these demands (constraints) are ranked; a candidate solution which satisfies a higher-ranking constraint, even at the cost of violating many lower-ranking ones, is preferred to a solution which violates a higher-ranking constraint, even if by so doing it satisfies many lower-ranking ones. In its pure form, OT is simply a theory of constraint interaction, independent of what the constraints are; hence, it is applicable, in principle, to any domain that can be formulated in terms of constraints.
Bezalel Elan Dresher went on in his 1996 column on GLOT International.
In politics, then, it is sometimes transparently evident that one high-ranking constraint can lead to action that requires violations of a large number of other desirable constraints. In phonology, however, it is not as obvious that constraints interact in this way. Could OT, then, have first arisen in some other field, at an earlier time? I think that it did, perhaps a number of times in different parts of the world. Here, I will recount an early instance of the application of OT to a problem of Jewish law in first century Palestine.
The story concerns Hillel the Babylonian (c. 60 B.C. - c. 10 A.D.), who was summoned by the Elders of Beterah to help resolve a problem that arises when Passover falls on the Sabbath. The laws of Passover require that a special sacrifice be offered; however, no work is permitted on the Sabbath. Since a sacrifice necessarily involves work (slaughtering, scraping, burning), the question is whether Passover overrides the Sabbath, or whether the Sabbath overrides Passover. The Elders of Beterah had forgotten this law, and hoped that Hillel, who had been a student of the famous teachers Shemaiah and Abtalion, would remember what it was. Hillel wished to show how the law could be deduced with the aid of some new methods and arguments.
The story, which I reproduce more or less as it is told in the Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi Pesah5im, Chapter 6 - the terminology has been somewhat updated), may (or may not!) help to illuminate some of the general questions raised above, as well as give us some perspective on the rise of OT in our own day.
Read the rest of the story here.