Distinctive features

Contents
 Linguistics.

 Phonetics and Phonology.

 Consonants and vowels.

 Description of the consonant sounds.

 Description of the vowel sounds.

 Distinctive features.

 Conclusion.
 Linguistic
Linguistics: is the scientific study of language.

This field of study covers a wide range of topics,

including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,
semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, historical
linguistics, and psycholinguistics, among others.
 Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics: is the branch of linguistics that focuses on the study of speech
sounds in human language. It involves the analysis and description of the
physical properties of sounds, such as their articulation (how they are
produced by the vocal tract), acoustic characteristics (how they are transmitted
as waves through the air), and auditory perception (how they are heard and
processed by the human ear and brain).
Phonology: is a subfield of linguistics that examines the abstract, systematic
organization of sounds in a particular language or languages. Phonology is
concerned with the ways in which speech sounds function in a language to
convey meaning and how they are structured into meaningful units like
phonemes and syllables.
 Consonants and vowels

Consonants: A good consonant definition in terms of pronunciation

is that with consonants the articulators either touch or they come

very very close to one another and they release suddenly or slowly

or they hold their position.

Vowels: A good vowel definition in terms of pronunciation is that the

articulators hold a shape but they do not actually touch.

 Description of the consonant sounds

Consonant sounds in English can be defined based on various

features, including their:

- Place of articulation.

- Manner of articulation.

- Voicing.
 Place of articulation
- Bilabials: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/.

- Labiodetals: /f/, /v/.

- Dentals: /θ/, /ð/.

- Alveolars: /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/.

- Post-alveolars: /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ , /dʒ/, /r/.

- Palatal sound: /j/.

- Velars: /k/, /g/, /ŋ/.

- Glottal sound: /h/.

 Manner of articulation
- Plosives: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.

- Fricatives: /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/.

- Affricates: /tʃ/ , /dʒ/.

- Nasals: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/.

- Approximants: /l/, /r/, /w/, /j/.

 Voicing

- Voiced sounds: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ð/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/,

/m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /w/, /j/.

- voiceless sounds: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /h/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/.

- Note: All the vowel sounds are voiced.

 Vowels
Vowel sounds in English can be described based on several phonetic
features:
* Height: How high or low the tongue is:
- close: /iː/, /uː/, /ʊ/.
- mid: /e/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /ɔː/, /ɪ/, /ʌ/.
- open: /ɑː/, /æ/, /ɒ/.
* Backness: How far front or back the tongue is:
- Front: /iː/, /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/.
- Central: /ə/, /ɜː/, /ʌ/.
- Back: /ɑː/, /ɒ/, /ɔː/, /ʊ/, /uː/.
* Roundedness: Are lips rounded or unrounded?
- Rounded: /uː/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /ɔː/.
- unrounded: /ɑː/, /æ/, /e/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /ɪ/, /iː/, /ʌ/.
 Distinctive features
Distinctive feature analysis: is based on the principle that phonemes should be
regarded not as independent and indivisible units, but instead as combinations of
different features.

For example: if we consider the English /d/ phoneme, it is easy to show that it
differs from the plosives /b/, /g/ in its place of articulation (alveolar), from /t/ in being
lenis, from /s/, /z/ in not being fricative, from /n/ in not being nasal, and so on.

- If we look at each of the consonants and vowels just mentioned and see which of
the features each one has, we get a table like this, where + means that a phoneme
does possess that feature and - means that it does not.
 Distinctive features/consonants
Consonant sounds /d/ /g/ /v/ /ʒ/ /ð/ /z/ /b/ /dʒ/ /j/ /h/ /f/ /t/
Bilabials - - - - - - + - - - - -

Place of articulation
Labiodetals - + - - - - - - - - + -
Dentals - - - - + - - - - - - -
Alveolars + - - - - + - - - - - +
Post-alveolars - - - + - - - + - - - -
Palatal sound - - - - - - - - + - - -
Velars - + - - - - - - - - - -
Glottal sound - - - - - - - - - + - -
Consonant sounds /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /r/ /w/ /tʃ/ /ʃ/ /θ/ /s/ /k/ /p/
Bilabials + - - - - + - - - - - +
Place of articulation

Labiodetals - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dentals - - - - - - - - + - - -
Alveolars - + - + - - - - - + - -
Post-alveolars - - - - + - + + - - - -
Palatal sound - - - - - - - - - - - -
Velars - - + - - - - - - - + -
Glottal sound - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Distinctive features/consonants
Consonant sounds /d/ /g/ /v/ /ʒ/ /ð/ /z/ /b/ /dʒ/ /j/ /h/ /f/ /t/

Manner of articulation
Plosives + + - - - - + - - - - +

Fricatives - - + + + + - - - + + -

Affricates - - - - - - - + - - - -

Nasals - - - - - - - - - - - -

Approximants - - - - - - - - + - - -
Consonant sounds /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /r/ /w/ /tʃ/ /ʃ/ /θ/ /s/ /k/ /p/
Manner of articulation

Plosives - - - - - - - - - - - +

Fricatives - - - - - - - + + + - -

Affricates - - - - - - + - - - - -

Nasals + + + - - - - - - - - -

Approximants - - - + + + - - - - - -
 Distinctive features/consonants

Consonant sounds /d/ /g/ /v/ /ʒ/ /ð/ /z/ /b/ /dʒ/ /j/ /h/ /f/ /t/

Voicing
voiced + + + + + + + + + - - -

voiceless - - - - - - - - - + + +

Consonant sounds /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /r/ /w/ /tʃ/ /ʃ/ /θ/ /s/ /k/ /p/

voiced
Voicing

+ + + + + + - - - - - -

voiceless - - - - - - + + + + + +
 Distinctive features/consonants
 The idea to be clear:
- let`s say: - plosives, we mean all the consonant sound without: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.
- If we say: + plosives, we mean these sounds: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.
- Let`s restrict more.
- If we say:
+ plosive.
+ bilabial. We mean these sounds: /p/, /b/.
- Let`s restrict more.
- If we say:
+ plosive.
+ bilabial.
- voiceless. We mean this sound: /b/.
 Distinctive features/vowels
Vowel sounds /iː/ /uː/ /ʊ/ /e/ /ə/ /ɜː/ /ɔː/ /ɪ/ /ʌ/ /ɑː/ /æ/ /ɒ/

close + + + - - - - - - - - -

Height mid - - - + + + + + + - - -

open - - - - - - - - - + + +

front + - - + - - - + - - + -

Backness central - - - - + + - - + - - -

back - + + - - - + - - + - +

rounded - + + - - - + - - - - +
Roundedness
unrounded + - - + + + - + + + + -
 Distinctive features/vowels

- open /iː/ /uː/ /ʊ/ /e/ /ə/ /ɜː/ /ɔː/ /ɪ/ /ʌ/
+ open /ɑː/ /æ/ /ɒ/
+ rounded /uː/ /ʊ/ /ɔː/ /ɒ/
- rounded /iː/ /e/ /ə/ /ɜː/ /ɪ/ /ʌ/ /ɑː/ /æ/
+ back /uː/ /ʊ/ /ɔː/ /ɑː/ /ɒ/
- mid
/uː/
- open
 Conclusion

At the end we can say there are

many ways of analysing the English
phonemic system, each with its own
advantages and disadvantages.
THE END