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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

The theory of distinctive oppositions goes back to Nikolay Trubetzkoy , it was an

attempt classifying properties of distinctive operative in natural languages .He defines
: a taxonomy of phonological contrasts that is of meaning changing oppositions

There are oppositions within the system – 1

There are relations between opposite members – 2

There are types of oppositional extent – 3

Oppositions within the system can be defined according to Trubetzkoy in three

: ways

Segment stands in multilateral opposition if there is more than one phonetic – 1

property , that keeps them apart , for example in language like Korean , the system of
plosives has always three members , voiced unaspirated plosives , voiceless
unaspirated plosives and voiceless aspirated plosives . There are two differentiating
features , plus + , minus – voice and plus + , minus – aspiration , so a multilateral
. oppositions

Oppositions can be defined as proportional if the relation between its members is – 2

identical with relations between the members of another opposition or several other
oppositions within the system . The difference between t and d in English is identical
. with that of k and g , that is we have a proportional relation
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3 - Opposition can be defined as isolated if no other segments stand in the same

relation in the language , for example , the opposition between /r/ and /l/ in English is
isolated since no other segments stand in the same opposition .

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 .

2-Oppositions in which the members are characterized by different degree or

graduation of the same properties are defined as gradual . This type of relationship
holds for vowels where the property tongue high is a matter of degree rather than of
binarity.

3-If the relationship between the members of an opposition can be considered

logically equivalent it is defined as equipollent . A typical case is the opposition in
English between /p/ verses /t/ and /t/ verses /k/ , unlike with vowels is not possible to
speak of a continuum from labial to velar and distinguish the consonant by means of
degrees of backness , rather the different places of articulation constitute and
equipollent relation .

The extent of an opposition can also be defined in Trubetzkoy Taxonomy :

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

Jakobson aimed at description of the oppositions operatives in language together

with his Swedish Colleague Gunnar Fant and the American phonologist Morris
Halle. He proposed the system of binary features , now called distinctive that capture
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phonological contrasts , rather than describe the phonetic segments themselves .

A feature is defined as binary if it has two values : one of which is designated as

plus the value and other is minus the particular value , in many cases a binary
approach is only phonologically significant and those oppositions which Trubetzkoy
termed privative , for example the feature nasal is binary phonologically , phonetically
however is a matter of degree , since some speech sounds can be more or less heavily
nasalized , probably , due to the availability of a spectrograph , which enabled
phonologists to analyze speech sounds acoustically , Jakobson features were acoustic
character , he defined three features group :

Major class features-1

Features for vowels , Features for consonants-2

3-Secondary articulation features .

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-Diffuse , B-Compact , C-Grave , D-Flat

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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In Jacobson's features system all segments specified as plus consonantal qualified

as a consonant , this feature distinguishes sounds with low energy and substantiation
obstruction from non consonantal sounds , among the features assigned to such
segments are plus , minus diffuse , plus minus grave and plus , minus flat , they were
also used for vowels and This has also been clarified in advance. Additional feature
were primarily articulatory in character , the feature :

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 feature strident or sharpness of noise was introduced by Roman Jakobson to -4

distinguish consonants involving high energy and high frequency from consonants
involving low energy and low frequency , it distinguishes noisy consonants like [ s ]
{ + strident } from More mellow consonant like so alveolar fricatives are classified
as plus strident , whereas dental and labiodental ones and post alveolar ones are
defined as minus strident . In order to capture aspects of secondary articulation such
as labialization , palatalization , extra , the following acoustic features were
introduced , flat the feature which refers to the weakening of up frequencies , sharp
the strengthening of up frequencies and checked the higher rate of energy discharge

Chomsky and Halle's Theory

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

A- as units that captures phonological contrast and patterns of languages and

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B- as means that describe phonetic content of segments

The sound pattern of English system can be divided , into three general groups of
features ,

1- Major class features

2 – primary placement features

3 – additional features .

Major class 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 .

primary placement features : A set of primary placement features supplements

major class features , vowels can be defined using four , such placement features
( high , low , back , round ) , if they involve a high tongue position , they referred to
as + high , if the tongue in a low position the feature assigned to them as +low and if
the back of the tongue is involved they specified as + back , finally , distinctive
feature round is used for vowels that involved lip rounding , it distinguishes the
primary set of cardinal vowels from the secondary set .
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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 .

Additional features : additional features in the sound pattern of English approach

what taken over from Jakobson for examples features , continuant and strident what
is continuant correlates with distinguishing between plosives and non plosives and
feature strident noisy fricative from less noisy consonants , Chomsky and Halle added
delayed release which was introduced to distinguish plain plosives from affricate
consonants , the later ones the affricates involve a delayed release of the oral closure
due to the frication component preceding the plosives that's .

Distinctive Features Today :

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 :

1-Vowels which involve a high tongue position { I , y , w , u } are defined by the

means of the feature plus high , Vowels that do not have a tongue high position are
associated with the feature minus high . Low vowels { a , æ , ɒ , ɑ } received the
feature low , and all those vowels , which are not low are defined as minus low . The
feature back is associated with back vowels { ɯ, u, ɤ, o, ʌ, ɔ, ɒ , ɑ } and the feature
minus back is associate with all front vowels { I, y, e, ø, ɛ, œ, a, ɶ} , and last but not
least we have the feature round , which defines all those vowels that are produced
with rounded lips { y, ø, œ, ɶ, u, o, ɔ , ɒ } , and minus round defines all those vowels
, that are produced with spread lips .
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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

Now looking at consonantal features , that are used today :

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

2-Modern consonantal features systems are based on sound pattern of English

approach authored by Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle , however where is in the
sound pattern of English system all features were binary , today system of
consonantal features include single valued or unary articulation features , depending
on the function within the system , consonantal features can be subdivided into two
classes :

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

Clark , J & Yallop , C . ( 1994 ) . An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology .

London : Blackwell Publishers

Ladefoged , P & Ferrari , S . ( 2012 ) . Vowels and Consonants . London : Blackwell

Publishers

Larry , H . ( 1975 ) . Phonology : Theory and Analysis . Washington DC : Library of

Congress

Odden , D . ( 2005 ) . Introducing Phonology . Cambridge : Cambridge University

Press