In Russom (2011), I defended a universalist hypothesis that the constituents of poetic form are abstracted from natural linguistic constituents: metrical positions from phonological constituents, usually syllables; metrical feet from morphological constituents, usually words; and metrical lines from syntactic constituents, usually sentences. An important corollary to this hypothesis is that norms for realization of a metrical constituent are based on norms for the corresponding linguistic constituent. Optimality Theory provides a universalist account of relevant linguistic norms and deals effectively with situations in which norms conflict, employing ranked violable rules. Language Typology provides a universalist account of relevant syntactic norms. In this paper I integrate these independently grounded methodologies and use them to explain the distribution of constituents within the line, identifying a variety of important facts that seem to have escaped previous notice. Universalist claims are tested against meters from each of the major language types: subject-verb-object (SVO), subject-object-verb (SOV) and verb-subject-object (VSO). My findings are incompatible with the claim that “lines are sequences of syllables, rather than of words or phrases” (Fabb, Halle 2008: 11).

中文翻译：

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最优性理论，语言类型学和通用度量

在Russom（2011）中，我捍卫了一个普遍主义的假设，即诗歌形式的成分是从自然语言成分中抽象出来的：音位是从语音成分（通常是音节）中提取的；距离形态成分（通常是单词）的公尺；和句法成分中的格律线，通常是句子。该假设的一个重要推论是，用于实现度量成分的规范基于相应语言成分的规范。最优性理论提供了有关语言规范的普适论，并运用排名违规的规则有效地处理了规范冲突的情况。语言类型学提供了有关句法规范的普适论。在本文中，我整合了这些独立的方法，并用它们来解释生产线中成分的分布，确定了许多重要的事实，这些事实似乎没有引起人们的注意。普遍主义的主张针对每种主要语言类型的计量表进行了测试：主语-动词-宾语（SVO），主语-宾语-动词（SOV）和动词-宾语-宾语（VSO）。我的发现与“线是音节的序列，而不是单词或短语的序列”的说法不符（Fabb，Halle 2008：11）。