Chapter 6

Features

PHONOLOGY
(Lane 335)
Segmental Composition
 Speech sounds can be decomposed into a number
of articulatory components.

 Combining these properties in different ways

produces different speech sounds.

 properties= features

 Features show what sounds have in common &

how they are related or not related.
Natural class

 Similar sounds that are grouped together

because they share some features

 Example [p, t, k] is a natural class of (alveolar

stops)
Phonetic vs. Phonological Features
 Phonetic features: correspond to physical
articulatory or acoustic events

 Phonological features:
1- look beyond the individual segments at the sound
system of language.
2- features to characterize speech sounds in the
languages of the world.
3- some features are relevant only for consonants;
others are only for vowels.
Phonetic vs. Phonological Features
 To characterize place of articulation: e.g.
[palatal] & use +, or –
 Binary feature: a feature that has only two
values (+ or -)

 Phonologists express true generalizations

about phonological structure as economically
as possible.
Phonological Features

 Major places of articulation:

 [+ anterior]: sounds produced no further back

in the oral tract than the alveolar ridge

 [+ coronal]: sounds produced in the area

bounded by the teeth & hard palate
Major Class Features
 Distinguish major classes of speech sounds:
Consonants & vowels, sonorants & obstruents
1- [+/- syllabic]: distinguish vowels from other sounds
 [+ syll]: function as the nucleus of a syllable

e.g: [æ ] & [ɪ ] in [r æb ɪt]

 [- syll]: don’t function as syllabic nuclei; [r] & [b] in [r

æb ɪt]
 Sounds other than vowels might be syllabic (liquids

& nasals) in [bʌ tn]

Major Class Features

2- [+/- consonantal]: distinguish consonants

(obstruents, liquids, & nasals) from vowels &
glides.

 [+ cons]: involve oral stricture of close

approximation ([p], [l], [t])

 [- cons]: with stricture more open than close

approximation ([j], [e])
Major Class Features

3- [+/ - sonorant]: distinguish vowels, glides, liquids, &

nasals from oral stops, affricates & fricatives.

 [+ son]: produced with spontaneous voicing

 [- son] or (obstruents) spontaneous voicing is

inhibited.

 Vowels, nasals & liquids are sonorants

 Stops, fricatives & affricates are obstruents.
Major Class Features
Consonantal Features
 1- [+/ - voice]: consonants with vibrating vocal cords
& those which are not

 [+ voi]: with airflow through the glottis; vocal cords

close to vibrate, such as [l], [m], [n]

 [- voi]: with vocal cords at rest; relevant to

obstruents, such as [s], [p]

 Although vowels are typically voiced, we find

voiceless vowels in languages like Mexican
Place Features

 [+/ - coronal]: distinguish sounds which

involve the front of the tongue from others
 [+ cor]: articulated with the tongue tip or

blade raised
[j, l, r, n, t, d, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ , ʒ , tʃ , dʒ ]
 [- cor] sounds which don’t involve the front of

the tongue
[w, m, ŋ , k, g, h, f, v, p, b]
Place Features
 [+/ - anterior]: distinguishes between sounds
produced in the front of the mouth (labials, dentals &
alveolars) and other sounds

 [+ ant]: produced at or in front of the alveolar ridge

[l, r, n, m, t, d, θ, ð, s, z, f, v, p, b]

 [- ant]: produced further back in the oral cavity than

the alveolar ridge
[j, w, ŋ, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ, k, g, h]
Place Features

 Labials:
[- cor, + ant] [m, f, v, p, b]
 Dentals/ Alveolars:

[+ cor, + ant] [ l, r, n, t, d, θ, ð, s, z]
 palato- Alveoars/ palatals:

[+ cor, - ant] [j,ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ ]

 Velars/Glotals/ pharyngeals/uvulars:

[- cor, - ant] [w, ŋ, k, g, h, ?]

Manner Features

1- [+/ - continuant]: distinguishes between

stops & other sounds

[+ cont]: there is airflow through the oral cavity

[j, w, l, r, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h, f, v]

[- cont]: in which the airflow is stopped in the

oral cavity
[n, m, ŋ, t, d, tʃ, dʒ, k, g, p, b]
Manner Features

2- [+/- nasal]: distinguish nasal & non-nasal sounds

 [+ nas]: produced with the velum lowered & air flow

through the nasal cavity
[n, m, ŋ ]

 [- nas]: without airflow through nasal cavity

[j, w, l, r, d, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ, k, g, h, f, v, p, b]
Manner Features

3- [+/- strident]: separates turbulent sounds

from others
 [+ strid]: complex constriction resulting in

noisy airflow
[s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ, f, v]

 [- strid]: without such constriction

[j, w, l, r, n, m, ŋ, t, d, θ, ð, k, g, h, p, b]
Manner Features

4- [+/- lateral]: separates [l] sounds from others

 [+ lat]: central oral obstruction & airflow

passing over one or both sides of the tongue
[l]
 [- lat]: all other sounds
Manner Features

5- [+/- delayed release]: distinguishes affricates

from other [- cont] segments

 [+ del rel]: produced with stop closure in the

oral cavity followed by frication at some point
[tʃ, dʒ]

 [- del rel]: without frication

Vocalic Features (vowels)

 1- [high]:

[+ hi]: body of the tongue raised above the

neutral position in [ə]
Vowels [iː, ɪ, ʊ, uː ]
Consonants [j, k]

 [- hi]: the body of the tongue is not raised

Vocalic Features

2- [low]
 [+ lo]: body of the tongue is lowered with

respect to the neutral position

Consonants: [?], [h]
Vowels: [ɒ, ɑː, ʌ, æ]

 [- lo]: without such lowering

Vocalic Features

3- [back]

 [+ back]: body of the tongue is retracted from neutral

position
Consonants: [k, g, ŋ]
Vowels: [ʊ, uː, ɔ, oː, ɒ, ɑː]

 [- back]: tongue is not retracted

All English consonants except the velars are [ -back]
Vocalic Features

4- [front]

 [+ front]: sounds for which the tongue is

fronted from the neutral position
[ɪ, iː, æ, e, ɜː]

 [- front]: the tongue is not fronted.

Vocalic Features

5- [round]

[+ rnd]: produced with rounded lips

Consonants: [w]
Vowels: [ʊ, uː, ɒ, ɔ, oː]

 [- rnd]: produced with neutral or spread lips

Vocalic Features

6- [tense]

 [+ tns]: involve muscular constriction (longer

sounds)
[iː, uː, ɑː, eː]

 [ - tns]: no constriction (shorter sounds)

Vocalic Features

7- [Advanced Tongue Root]

 for describing West African & other

languages vowels (vowel harmony)
 words have vowels from certain sets & not a
mixture of both sets
 [+ ATR]: the root of the tongue pushed
forward
 [- ATR]: tongue root is not pushed forward.
Problems with the features
 There are some problems of these features; For
example:
 Some combinations represents physical
impossibility [+ hi, + lo]

 The system overgenerates; represents types not

found in human languages.

 Using the feature [back] doesn’t represent

languages with central vowels.