1. Chapter 6 Features
PHONOLOGY (Lane 335)

2. 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.

3. Natural class
Similar sounds that are grouped together because they share some features
Example [p, t, k] is a natural class of (alveolar stops)

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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]

8. 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])

9. 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.

10. Major Class Features

11. 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

12. 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]

13. 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]

14. 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, ?]

15. 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]

16. 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]

17. 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]

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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]

23. 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.

24. Vocalic Features 5- [round] [+ rnd]: produced with rounded lips
Consonants: [w]
Vowels: [ʊ, uː, ɒ, ɔ, oː]
[- rnd]: produced with neutral or spread lips

25. Vocalic Features 6- [tense]
[+ tns]: involve muscular constriction (longer sounds)
[iː, uː, ɑː, eː]
[ - tns]: no constriction (shorter sounds)

26. 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.

27. 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.