Preference laws in phonological change

During the 1980s Robert Murray and Theo Vennemann developed an approach to language change, which, building on theories of markedness and naturalness, aimed to elucidate the motivations behind sound changes. From the beginning this theory stood in apparent contrast to traditional approaches, which were largely descriptive. The key assumptions of this approach are that certain linguistic structures are more preferred than others and that languages strive towards improvement in line with these preferences. This perspective has provided theoretical underpinnings for more recent phonological theories, most notably Optimality Theory. We introduce the concept of preference laws, giving an overview of its development, its most significant features and key applications, as well as discussing critical points raised in the literature. The chapter is structured as follows. Section 26.2 introduces the theoretical foundations and basics of preference-law theory. In section 26.3 we apply it to motivating sound change. In sections 26-4 and 26.5 developments and controversies involving preference laws are discussed. The main points are summarized in section 26.6.