1. Ch4 – Features
Features are partly acoustic partly articulatory aspects of sounds but they are used for phonology so sometimes they are created to distinguish one sound from others or to group sounds together based on how they behave in phonology!
Used best to show natural classes being affected by a process.

2. Ch4 – Features
Sonority hierarchy – sonorant is an acoustic feature (remember that non sonorants are called obstruents)
less sonority
Greater sonority
Vowels
Glides
Liquids
Nasals
Obstruents
[+syllabic]
[–syllabic]
[–consonantal]
[+consonantal]
[+approximant]
[–approximant]
[+sonorant]
[-sonorant]

3. Ch4 – Features Major class features
[ syllabic] - sounds that can act as syllables
vowels, and syllabic consonants (not glides)
The center of a syllable is the most sonorous element and as you progress towards the edges of the syllable from the nucleus, the sonority decreases (this explains many phonotactic constraints found in languages as to what sequence consonant clusters can occur in – though not 100%)

4. Ch4 – Features Major class features
[ consonantal] - major obstruction in vocal tract
obstruents, liquids, nasals (not h) (not glides)
[ syllabic] - sounds that can act as syllables
vowels, and syllabic consonants (not glides)
[ sonorant] - singable sounds
vowels, glides, liquids and nasals (even if voiceless)
[ approximant] – liquids, glides and vowels

5. Ch4 – Features Manner features
[ continuant] – sounds with free or nearly free airflow through oral cavity
fricatives, liquids, glides and vowels (not stops (nasals included))
[ delayed release] [ DR] – the release of a stop is slowed to create a fricative
affricates only (sometimes fricatives included)
[ nasal] – sounds produced with a lowered velum (through nasal passage)
nasal stops and nasalized vowels
[ lateral] – sounds produced air flowing over sides of tongue
only varieties of l are [+ lateral]
Also [+trill] and [+tap]

6. Ch4 – Features Vowel features Front Central Back [–back] [+back]

7. Ch4 – Features
You can download a feature spreadsheet at Bruce Hayes website here:
Also can get practice writing rules using features at website above!

8. Place o’ articulation features
Ch4 – Features
Place o’ articulation features
Different from other features – only certain features apply to the 3 places
For some, these are neither + or – : they just are according to some (not our text)
LABIAL – sounds made with at least one lip
CORONAL – sounds made with tongue tip or blade raised (front of tongue)
DORSAL – sounds made involving body of tongue

9. Place o’ articulation features
Ch4 – Features
Place o’ articulation features
LABIAL
[ round] – sounds produced by protruding the lips
[+ round] is [w]; [– round] is [p, b, f, v]
[ labiodental] – lower lip to upper teeth – he uses this feature to distinguish bilabial from labiodental fricatives (others use [strident] or [distributed] but Hayes argues that these features group the labiodentals into a natural class with other [+strident] or [-distributed] sounds which doesn’t have any support in phonology)
[f, v] = [+labiodental]

10. Ch4 – Features
[± distributed] – laminal (more of blade of tongue used for articulation) rather than apical (just the tongue tip). Distinguishes dentals and alveopalatals = [+distr] from alveolars = [-distr]
[± lateral] – lateral or not

11. Place o’ articulation features
Ch4 – Features
Place o’ articulation features
DORSAL (for vowels and some consonants)
[ high] – tongue body raised higher than a central position
[+high] = velars and palatals and high vowels; [–high] = uvulars and pharyngeals and non-high vowels
[ low] – tongue body lowered lower than a central position
low vowels are [+ low]; others are [– low]; [–low] = all consonants except pharyngeals
[ back] – produced with tongue body behind palatal region [+ back]
backed velars, uvulars and pharyngeals and back vowels are [+ back]; palatals and fronted/central velars and front vowels not
[ front] – produced with tongue body in front of palatal region [+ front]
[+front] = fronted velars and palatals; [–front] = other velars, uvulars and pharyngeals

12. Place o’ articulation features
Ch4 – Features
Place o’ articulation features
DORSAL (for vowels and some consonants)
[ tense] – tense vowels are [+ tense]; lax vowels are [– tense]
[ reduced] – if the vowel is reduced, it is [+ reduced] (always for ) {this is not part of Hayes’ system but some use this}
[]

13. Ch4 – Features

14. Ch4 – Features Consonants (C)
[+ high]
LABIAL
CORONAL
DORSAL
[+ round]
[– round]
[+ back]
[– back]
[– strident]
[+ strident]
[– anterior]
[+ anterior]

15. Ch4 – Features Consonants (C)
LABIAL
[+labiodental]
[–labiodental]

16. Ch4 – Features Consonants (C)
CORONAL
DORSAL
[+ high]
[– low]
[+ front]
[– back]
[+ strident]
[+ distributed]
[– strident]
[– anterior]
[+ anterior]

17. Ch4 – Features DORSAL CORONAL [+front] [–front] [–high] [+back]
Glottals are:
[–labial]
[–coronal]
[–dorsal]
[–low]
[+low]

18. Place o’ articulation features
Ch4 – Features
Place o’ articulation features
Secondary articulations
Palatalization – add [+dorsal, +high, -low, +front, -back]
Velarization – add [+dorsal, +high, -low, -front, +back]
Pharyngealization - add [+dorsal, -high, +low, -front, +back]
Labialization - add [+labial, +round]

19. Place o’ articulation features
Ch4 – Features
Place o’ articulation features
Place as a group concept
Possible when showing a rule to use just [placei] to indicate that the place of articulation and all of the features involved with that place are included. See p. 89

20. Ch4 – Features Laryngeal features
[ voice] – vocal folds vibrating or not
[ spread glottis] [ SG] – aspirated sounds, [h] and breathy vowels are [+ SG]
[ constricted glottis] [ CG] – sounds made with a closed glottis are [+ CG]
In English, only is [+ CG], but ejectives are too and preglottalized stops
[ implosive] – implosive sounds are [+implosive]
[?]

21. Ch4 – Features Zero features
If a feature is not relevant for a sound (usually due to place of articulation), then we can use 0 instead of +/- for that feature which just means not relevant

22. Ch4 – Features Features and rules
He discusses when to use features and when to use IPA symbols
Basically, an IPA symbol is a substitute for feature matrix and best used when only one sound is involved like Indonesian velar nasal deletion p. 92
You should use features when the general process affects a natural class rather than an individual sound!!

23. Phonology Rule annotation: A  B / X __ Y
A comes B in the environment between X and Y
Rule annotation for deletion:
A  Ø / X __ Y
A is deleted in the environment between X and Y
Rule annotation for epenthesis:
Ø  A / X __ Y
A is epenthesized (added) in the environment between X and Y

24. Phonology Practice / # ___ Convert this statement into a rule:
Voiced oral stops become voiceless at the beginning of words.
[b]  [p] / # __
–sonorant
–continuant
+voice
-DR 
[–voice]
/ # ___

25. Phonology Practice / Convert this rule into a statement: –sonorant
+continuant
–voice
– consonantal
+syllabic
–consonantal
+syllabic 
[+voice] /
___

26. Phonology Practice / V __ V Convert this rule into a statement: C
+continuant
+del rel
+voice
-sonorant 
[–voice]
/ V __ V
Voiced fricatives become voiceless between vowels (intervocalically)

27. Phonology Practice / # __ Convert this rule into a statement: C +cont
+del rel
–voice 
[+SG]
/ # __
Voiceless fricatives become aspirated word initially

28. Phonology Practice

29. Phonology Practice

30. Phonology Practice
Write a rule for the Spanish data and assume this rule applies to all voiced stops
-del rel
+voice
-sonorant
– consonantal
+syllabic
–consonantal
+syllabic 
[+continuant] /
___

31. Phonology Practice
Look at Spanish handout and think about it in terms of features

32. Phonology Practice
Using just English consonant phonemes, use features to come up with natural classes.

33. Ch4 – Features

34. Ch4 – Features

35. Ch4 – Features Consider the following data from Mokilese
Can you identify complementary distribution?
If so, write a rule in feature to capture the overall process (not specific rules for specific sounds but for natural classes)

36. Ch4 – Features Consider the following data from Mokilese
High vowels become voiceless between voiceless consonants
+syllabic 
[–voice] /
- sonorant
___
+dorsal
- voice
+high