Efficient Computation of Implicational Universals in Constraint-Based Phonology Through the Hyperplane Separation Theorem

AbstractThis paper focuses on the most basic implicational universals in phonological theory, called T-orders after Anttila and Andrus (2006). It develops necessary and sufficient constraint characterizations of T-orders within Harmonic Grammar and Optimality Theory. These conditions rest on the rich convex geometry underlying these frameworks. They are phonologically intuitive and have significant algorithmic implications.