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There are three main approaches that have influenced the definition of distinctive
: features
A-The first is the theory of distinctive oppositions which goes back mainly to the
. Russian phonologist Nicolay Trubetzkoy
B-The second is the acoustic approach , which was first introduced by Danish
. Linguist Roman Jakobson
C-There is approach introduced by Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle in their
. influential book , the sound pattern of English
Trubetzkoy's Theory
Opposite members can also be defined in terms of the relation of the oppositions :
1-In privative opposition one member carries a phonetic property which the other
member lacks , in other words privative oppositions are relationships of presence
verses the absence of the feature , for example voicing in English between/t/ voiced
un aspirated plosive and /d/ voiceless aspirated plosive .
1-When two members of an opposition can occur in all positions the opposition is
referred to as constant , this is almost the case for English in /t/ and /d/ .
2-The opposition between the segment is called Neutralizable , if there are context
where only one of the opposition member can be found , a classic example of
neutralizable opposition comes from German where the opposition between voiced
and voiceless consonants as /t/ and /d/ disappear in final position , or from present day
English , where the opposition between /t/ and /d/ is neutralized after , s .
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Jacobson's Theory
Major class features , they have been introduced to distinguish major classes of
segments , vowels , consonants and segments in between , nasals , liquids and glides ,
however there is disagreement about the number and type of major class features .
Jakobson introduced the feature consonantal and nasal .
In Jacobson's approach all vowels were assigned the major class feature , minus
consonantal . The three parameters of tongue height , tongue position and lip rounding
are accounted additional features based on acoustic measurements came in :
A-The feature diffuse relates to all segments whose energy concentration can
primarily be found in all region central to the frequency spectrum , this defines
vowels such /i/ and /u/ as well as most non alveolar consonants as plus diffuse .
B-The feature compact relates to all segments with low energy concentration in the
. narrow central region of spectrum this defines the low vowels as compact
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C- The feature grave relates to all segments whose energy concentration can primarily
be found in a narrow region of the low frequencies of frequency spectrum , this
defines all back vowels as plus grave and the feature flat relates to all segments with
weak or low energy concentration in the upper regions of frequency spectrum , this
defines most back vowels as plus flat.
voice correlates with vocal cord action , a speech sounds is voice and has the -1
feature plus voice if the vocal cords vibrate , if it has the feature minus voice the
glottis is opened
Nasal sound are produced by lowering the velum and lowing the air to pass out - 2
laud through the nasal cavity , non nasal or oral sounds are produced with the velum
. raised to prevent the passage of air through the nose
3-Continuant sounds a lowing the air to flow through the mid sagittal region of the
vocal tract , sounds produced with a sustain closing are defined as minus continuant ,
hence , vowels , glides , liquids and fricatives are plus continuant . Plosives and
laterals are minus continuant .
The most influential approach of our time is the sound pattern of English
approach , which is essentially a book published in 1968 by Noam Chomsky and
: Morris Halle , and they defined distinctive features in two ways
The sound pattern of English system can be divided , into three general groups of
features ,
3 – additional features .
1-Like Jakobson , Chomsky and Halle used , the feature consonantal to distinguish
consonants from vowels , they defined all those sounds as plus consonantal , that are
produced with some sort of constriction in the vocal tract , at least equal to that found
in fricative consonants .
2- Sounds that have the feature syllabic are those which constitute peaks of syllables ,
non syllabic sounds are those in the margin of syllables , So if there is a word
composed of a consonant + a vowel + a consonant + a consonant, then the first
consonant is + const and – syllable , the vowel is – cons , + syll , the consonant is +
cons , - syll and the last one is + cons , - syll
3-speech sounds and that last major class feature , can be defined as sonorant if the
pressure of air behind the constriction is proximately equal to the imbedded air
pressure , according to the amount of sonority all speech sounds can be rent , where
one is the heist degree of sonority and five the lowest , the three heist , that is vowels
liquids and nasals are defined as plus + sonorant , the two lowest , plosives and
fricatives are minus – sonorant .
high , low , back , round ) , if they involve a high tongue position , they referred to as
+ high , if the tongue in a low position the feature assigned to them as +low and if the
back of the tongue is involved they specified as + back , finally , distinctive feature
round is used for vowels that involved lip rounding , it distinguishes the primary set
of cardinal vowels from the secondary set .
Consonants are defined by two features that defined them on the bases of the place
of constriction , that is from labial to uvular :
1- the feature coronal refers to the activity of the blade of the tongue this involves all
those sounds are produced between the dental and palatal alveolar region.
2-the feature anterior is associated with all those coronal consonants which are
produced with primary constriction located at or in front of alveolar ridge , that is with
labial dental and alveolar consonants .
References
Chomsky , N & Halle , M . ( 1968 ) . The Sound Pattern of English . London : Harper
& Row Publishers