The History of The Theoretical Basis To The Distinctive Features
The History of The Theoretical Basis To The Distinctive Features
The History of The Theoretical Basis To The Distinctive Features
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 .
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
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
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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 .
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 .
To distinguish vowels and consonants from one another , the super ordinate feature
consonantal is normally used , so vowels or vocalic features are all minus
consonantal .
A-Starting with vocalic features : the parameters used for the phonetic
classification of vowels , high , low , round , back , can be translated into
phonological features on a direct one to one basis :
2-The fifth feature , in order to obtain the four degrees of height , high , mid high ,
mid low , low , the additional binary feature ATR which stands for advanced tongue
root was introduced , now we can draw distinguishing between , mid high and mid
low vowels . So here { o } , cardinal number 7 , which is now plus ATR and { ɔ }
minus ATR . They are plus sonorant and plus syllabic
1-Consonantal features make reference to the active rather than the passive
articulators , this grounding is not arbitrary since only active articulators such as the
tongue , the lips , the uvula and the glottis are believed to be associated with cognitive
substance , the passive articulators by contrast remain motionless
1-The first of them called major class features ( sonorant , continuant , voice , nasal )
A-defines all those speech sounds that have a high amount of sonority as plus
sonorant , { m , n , ŋ , j , w , ɹ , l , tʃ , dʒ } . That is vowels liquids and nasals are
plus sonorant , the two lowest fricatives and plosives are minus sonorant
B-The feature plus continuant defines vowels , glides , glottis and fricatives as plus
continuant { f , v , θ , ð , s , z , h , ʃ , ʒ , j , w , ɹ } . Plosives and lateral are minus
continuant .
C-The feature voice correlates with vocal cords action , the speech sounds have the
feature plus voice if the vocal cords vibrate { b , d , g , v , ð , z , ʒ , m , n , ŋ , j , w , r ,
l , dʒ } , it has the feature minus voice if the glottis is open .
D-The last major class feature is nasal , it refers to nasal consonants are produced by
lowering the velum and allowing air to pass out toward through the nasal cavity { m ,
n , ŋ } , non nasal or oral sounds are produced with the velum raised to prevent the
passage of air through the nose .
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2-The second class of features are cavity features , typical articulatory features
{ lateral , labial , coronal ,anterior , distributed , dorsal }
A-One of them is lateral , this feature refers to those consonants that are produced
with a lateral manner of articulation ,the most familiar of which is of course the
alveolar lateral consonant {l} , they are produced allow the air to pass over one or
both sides of the tongue .
B-The feature labial is a unary feature , that is a feature with a single value only .It is
associated with all those consonants , that involve the lips as an active articulator { p ,
b , f , v , m , w } that is bilabial and labial dental consonants are assigned the feature
labial
C-Let us now look at typical placement feature , the feature coronal was discussed , it
was introduced by Chomsky and Halle approach and refers to the activity of the blade
of the tongue .This involves all those sounds that are produced between the dental and
the palatal alveolar ridge { t , d , ð , θ , s , z , ʒ , ʃ , n , r , l , dʒ , tʃ }
D-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
bilabials , labials , dentals or alveolar consonants { t,d, ð , θ , s , z , n,r,l}
E-The feature distributed , it refers to all coronal consonants that are produced with
constriction that extends considerable distance along the mid sagittal access of the
vocal tact , in other words the feature distributed refers to the distribution of the
tongue over the passive articulator typical for dental and post alveolar consonants { ð ,
θ , ʒ , ʃ , dʒ , tʃ }
F-Finally , there is a need to a feature to define velar consonants and the feature has
been chosen here is referred to as dorsal , it defines sounds articulated with the body
of the tongue against velum . The use of the term dorsal rather than velar follows the
principle to refer to the active articulator , rather than the definition of features on the
basis of passive articulators {k , g , ŋ } .
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References
Chomsky , N & Halle , M . ( 1968 ) . The Sound Pattern of English . London : Harper
& Row Publishers