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Distinctive Features of Phonemes

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Samah A. Abugharsa
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Name: Samah A. Abugharsa

Distinctive Features of Phonemes

Phonemes were thought to be the ultimate constituents of language, i.e. the smallest
unit that a sound can be broken down into. However, in later years phonologists indicated
that phonemes could further be divided into smaller constituents known as features (Roach,
2002). According to Ladefoged (1993) a feature is “a phonetic property that can be used to
classify sounds” (p.42). For instance, all consonants possess the phonetic feature
Consonantal, which is not a feature shared by vowels. Some consonants have the feature
Voice while some consonants do not.

Since phonology is concerned with sound relations and patterns, features are
commonly used in phonology than in phonetics. This brings the term distinctive features into
our discussion. “When a feature distinguishes one phoneme from another, it is a distinctive
feature or, equivalently, a phonemic feature” (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2014, p. 236).
By referring to these features, we can understand the shared characteristics of speech sounds
and how they relate or differ from each other (Davenport & Hannahs, 2005).

Phonemes are not independent units. They can be analysed into a combination of
different features. If we take the English phoneme [d], it could be indicated that it differs
from the stops [b] and [g] in being alveolar, from voiceless [t] in being lenis, from [s] and [z]
in not being fricative and from [n] in not being nasal, etc. (Roach, 2009). To illustrate the
given example, the features can be presented in a table which could be called a feature matrix
where a plus (+) means that the segment possess that feature and a minus (-) indicates that it
does not:
d b g t s z n
alveolar + - - + + + +
bilabial - + - - - - -
velar - - + - - - -
lenis + + + - - + +
stop + + + + - - -
fricative - - - - + + -
nasal - - - - - - +

(Distinctive feature matrix)

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If you examine the feature matrix, you will notice that the combination of the + and –
values is different for each phoneme. If two segments have the same values for each feature,
they could not be regarded as different phonemes.
A single feature may constitute two values: a (+) which indicates that the feature is
present and a (-) which signifies its absence. In this case, it is called a binary feature because
it consists of two possibilities. (Fromkin et al., 2014). For example, Voice feature constitutes
two values: [+ voiced], e.g. [v] and [- voiced], e.g. [f]. Ladefoged (2006) emphasized that
anyone should differentiate between the name of the feature and the possible values that it
constitutes as this distinction is not frequently made in books about phonetics and phonology.
Ladefoged (1993) adopted the practice of using a capital letter for the name of the
feature and putting the possible values of a particular feature into square brackets. The
following examples are presented following the same practice.
We could start some examples by discussing the features determined by the place of
articulation. The principal possibilities are: Labial, Coronal, and Dorsal. Both Labial and
Dorsal need no further subdivision, but for Coronal there are two possibilities. [+ anterior]
which constitutes the alveolar and dental sounds such as [ t, d, n, θ, ð] and [ - anterior] sounds
that are made behind the alveolar ridge such as [palato- alveolar] and [retroflex] sounds.
Example are [ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ, r].
For features of manner, we will discuss the multivalued feature Stricture that
constitutes [stop] in which there is a complete closure of two articulators. Additionally, there
is the sounds categorised as [fricative] in which there is a slight closeness of two articulators
and the sounds classified as [approximant] such as [l, r, w, j].
The next set of features classifies sounds into two major classes. Vowels are
[+ syllabic] and [- consonantal] and stops, fricatives, nasals and liquids are all [- syllabic] and
[+ consonantal]. Sonority is used to refer to the loudness of a sound compared to that with
another sound sharing the same stress, length, and pitch. Nasals, liquids, approximants and
vowels are all similar in terms of the feature Sonorant. They are all [ + sonorant] while
fricatives and stops are considered [- sonorant] ( Ladefoged, 2006).
Finally, vowels could be described by means of the remaining features. They can be
classified in terms of Back and Round. Height is a binary feature which can be divided into ,
High and Low. This gives three possibilities of height. [i, u] are [ + high], [ - low] vowels.
[e, o] are [ - high], [ - low] vowels and [æ, a] are [ - high], [ + low] vowels. The remaining
vowels [ɪ, ʊ] can be classified in terms of the feature Tense. They are [- tense].

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 Name: Samah A. Abugharsa

Overall, phonemes are not the single smallest units that a sound can be broken down
into. They are divided into phonemic features which distinguish different phonemes from
each other. Distinctive features are part of phonology and they form the basis for forming
phonological rules.
References

Davenport, M., & Hannahs, S. J. (2005). Introducing phonetics and phonology. London:

Hodder Education.

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2014). An introduction to language. Boston:

Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Ladefoged, P. (1993). A course in phonetics (3rd ed.). Florida: Harcourt Brace & company.

Ladefoged, P. (2006). A course in phonetics (5th ed.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.

Roach, P. (2002). A little encyclopaedia of phonetics. UK: University of Reading.

Roach, P. (2009). English phonetics and phonology (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

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