Previous generative work on phonological variation has been couched in discussion of “Optional” or “Variable” rules. More recently, a Partial Ranking (PR) theory of variation (Anttila/ Cho 1998) has been applied to explain inter-speaker variation. The present paper develops the PR theory of variation and applies it systematically to the analysis of some segmental phenomena in Moroccan Arabic (MA). It is argued that dialectal variation in MA is the result of variable dominance relations among ranked universal constraints. The primary advantage of the PR model is its ability to account for all speech processes, categorical as well as variable, within a single framework. Building on Optimality Theory as proposed in Prince and Smolensky (1993), McCarthy and Prince (1993), I construct a grammar which predicts in which circumstances segmental variation may or may not occur.
