Explaining Variation in Optimality Theory:

This paper examines the morphophonological variation of L-irregular verbs in Korean based on the empirical data collected through internet search. The most common variation, Variant A, retains the stem l in more occasions than the standard dialect by not dropping the suffixal vowel ɨ, while Variant B, the less frequent one, retains the l in all possible cases even by inserting the vowel ɨ. These variations are explained to result from a slight change in the same set of constraints. It is argued that variable rankings among three constraints in particular, i.e., *l-ɨ, F(ɨ), and F(l), bring about the variations. Also, the unequal frequency distribution among the three dialects seems to suggest that the rankings between these constraints are not discrete but rather continuous, along the line with Boersma and Hayes (2001).