Distinctive Features By Debanjan Ballav (MA Linguistics, Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute) As we studied Phonetics we saw there are dozens of sounds in every natural language of human beings that we consider as phonemes, which play the most significant role in producing words by arranging structurally in a constructive manner. Now we know every sound production takes place in a different way i.e. every speech sounds have its manner and point of articulation. We distinguish these speech sounds in terms of their features which are determined by their manner and point of articulation. We label them as vowels and consonants i.e. if there is constriction or friction in the vocal tract we call those sounds consonants and if there is no constriction we just call them vowels. These are the most basic things we already know about speech sounds, before entering to distinctive features in a proper manner we had to recapitulate these foundational things for once. What is a Distinctive feature? Distinctive features enable us to describe the segments in the world’s languages and to refer to those groups of segments that play a role in their characteristic phonological process and constraints. These are the elements by which we can refer to natural segment classes, groups of segments that are treated as groups by languages. Distinctive features are always binary, so they always have either a positive or a negative specification, e.g. [+voice] as for [b] and [-voice] as for [p]. Why we study Distinctive features When we talk about phonemes, we deal with the smallest unit of any language which is speech sounds. These are very specific and limited in every human language. A limited number of phonetic parameters, taken from a fairly small universal set recur in a variety of combinations in different languages. It makes us go beyond the phoneme and focus on those basic phonological ingredients, called Distinctive features. Every language has its Phoneme system which is constructed by a relatively small inventory of phonetic features. The combinations of phonemes in every language are different. The human evaluation took place at one time with every member of the human family, thus the vocal apparatus of every human being are consist of the same organs, and thus the point and manner of articulations are the same for every human being. It’s the biological or genetic conditioning for which every linguistic community has its different phonemic usage. We can distinguish or establish separate phonological features of that specific linguistic community in terms of that usage. We can show an example to make a justification in favor of the need for Distinctive features. Pray [pr̥eɪ] brain [breɪn] In this example, we can see the phenomenon with /r/ takes place in English, that It undergoes partial devoicing when immediately preceded by voiceless stops but not when it is preceded by voiced ones. If we talk about phoneme /r/, we know it’s voiced, trill sound by the manner, and alveolar by the point of articulation. Here in the example when the word starts with a voiceless stop like /p/, phoneme /r/ is getting partially devoiced at the same time when the word starts with a voiced stop sound like /b/, phoneme /r/ is not getting devoiced. So in a way we can observe that precedence is the factor here which we call Assimilation in Phonology when the initial phoneme injects its nature into the next phoneme. By highlighting each articulatory parameter and singling out the sub-phonemic particles (i.e. distinctive features) of which phonemes are made up, this approach is capable of treating assimilation insightfully as an instance of Spreading of distinctive features. A brief history of Prague school Russian Phonologists Nicolai Trubetzkoy and Roman Jakobson were the founders of the Prague school which is mainly known for their revolutionary contribution to Generative phonology. As American linguists considered a phoneme as the basic unit of any language, phonologists of the Prague school countered this concept by establishing the concept of Distinctive features. For example, in English, /b/ differs from /p/ in the same way that /d/ differs from /t/ and /g/ from /k/. Similarly, the feature of labiality can be extracted from /p/ and /b/ by comparing them with /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/; the feature of nasality from /n/ and /m/ by comparing them with /t/ and /d/, on the one hand, and with /p/ and /b/, on the other. Each phoneme, then, is composed of several articulatory features and is distinguished by the presence or absence of at least one feature from every other phoneme in the language. The distinctive function of phonemes, which depends upon and supports the principle of the duality of structure, can be related to the cognitive function of language. This distinctive feature analysis of Prague school phonology as developed by Jakobson became part of the generally accepted framework for generative phonology which was led by Chomsky afterward. Features proposed by Jakobson, Fant, and Halle (1952) Prague school Phonologists categorized the concept of Distinctive features into three major parts: a. Fundamental Source Features b. Secondary Consonantal Features c. Resonance Features Fundamental Source Features This feature can be subcategorized into two subdivisions. • Vocalic vs non vocalic: Oral cavity plays a significant role in the production of vocalic sounds where the most radical constriction does not exceed. We can find these features in high vowels e.g. [i] and [u]. the position of the vocal cords allows the spontaneous voicing. In non vocalic sounds, one or both of these conditions are not satisfied. e.g. vocalic sounds: (/a,o,u/) and liquids (/l,r/) non vocalic sounds: glides (/w,y/), nasal consonants (/m,n, ɳ,ŋ/), obstruents i.e. plosives, fricatives and affricates (/p,f/) and voiceless vowels and liquids (/ ɑ̥ ,ɻ/̥ ) • Consonantal vs non-consonantal: In the production of consonantal sounds a huge obstruction takes place in the main region of the vocal tract whereas non-consonantal sounds are produced without such an obstruction. e.g. consonantal sounds: liquids, nasal consonants, non-nasal consonants. Non-consonantal: voiced vowels, voiceless vowels, glides Secondary Consonantal Features This feature can be subcategorized into four subdivisions. • Interrupted vs Continuant: Interrupted and Continuant are actually two types of consonants that are distinguished by abrupt onset. The main characteristic of Interrupted consonants is a sharp wavefront preceded by a period of complete silence, for which, under certain conditions, a mere vibration of the vocal bands may be substituted. Continuant sounds are produced in a way where the primary constriction in the vowel tract is not blocked; in stops, the airflow through the mouth is effectively blocked. e.g. Interrupted: stops (/p,b,t,d/) Continuant: everything else (/f,v,m,r/) • Checked vs Unchecked: In spectrograms, checked phonemes are marked by a sharper termination, which lacks in unchecked. • Strident vs Mellow: Strident sounds have an irregular waveform which is represented by a random distribution of black areas in the spectrogram, whereas Mellow sounds have a regular waveform and have a spectrogram with black areas which may form horizontal or vertical striations. Plosives are nonstrident stops and affricates are strident stops. • Voiced vs Unvoiced: The spectrum of voiced consonants includes formants that are due to the harmonic source. The most striking manifestation of "voicing" is the appearance of a strong low component which is represented by the voice bar along the baseline of the spectrogram. Voiced phonemes are emitted with periodic vibrations of the vocal bands and voiceless phonemes without such vibrations. e.g. Voiced: (/b,d,g/) Voiceless: (/p,t,g/) Resonance Features Resonance features can be subcategorized into six subdivisions again. • Compact/diffuse & Grave/acute: 1. Compact phonemes are characterized by the relative predominance of one centrally located formant region (or formant). They are opposed to diffuse phonemes in which one or more non-central formants or formant regions predominate. 2. Acoustically this feature means the predominance of one side of the significant part of the spectrum over the other. When the lower side of the spectrum predominates, the phoneme is labeled grave; when the upper side predominates, we term the phoneme acute Arabic e.g. a Compact diffuse u grave I acute • Flat/plain: • Flattening manifests itself by a downward shift of a set of formants or even of all the formants in the spectrum … Flattening is chiefly generated by a reduction of the lip orifice (rounding) with a concomitant increase in the length of the lip constriction. Hence the opposition flat vs. plain has been genetically termed "orifice variation", and the opposition grave vs. acute "cavity variation" • Sharp/plain: This feature manifests itself in a slight rise of the second formant and, to some degree, also of the higher formants. To effect this feature, the oral cavity is reduced by raising a part of the tongue against the palate. • Tense/Lax: In contradistinction to the lax phonemes the corresponding tense phonemes display a longer sound interval and larger energy. In contradistinction, to the lax phonemes, the corresponding tense phonemes display a longer sound interval and larger energy. Tense sounds are produced with a deliberate, accurate, maximally distinct gesture that involves considerable muscular effort; nontense sounds are produced rapidly and somewhat indistinctly. • Nasal/Oral: Nasal sounds are produced with a lowered velum which allows the air to escape through the nose; nonnasal sounds are produced with a raised velum so that the air from the lungs can escape only through the mouth. e.g. orals are (/p,b/) and nasals are (/m,n/) Distinctive features in The Sound Pattern of English As there are some class features according to SPE proposed by Chomsky and Halle, we’ll discuss some of them 1. Major class features 2. laryngeal features 3. manner features • Major class features: 1. [±consonantal], [+Cons] segments have a constriction somewhere along the center line in the vocal tract which is as narrow as that required for a fricative (e.g. plosives, affricates, nasals, laterals and [r]) [-cons] segments lack such a constriction. (e.g. vowels, glides [ʝ ɦʔ] 2. [±sonorant] . [+son] segments are produced with a constriction in the vocal tract which allows the air pressure behind it and in front of it to be relatively equal, while this is not the case for [−son] segments. e.g. [h] and [ʔ] are [−son] and [+son] are all vowels, glides like [ʋ w j], liquids and nasals. 3. [±approximant], [+approx] are those segments which have a constriction in the vocal tract which allows a free (frictionless) escape of air, while for [−approx] segments this is not the case. e.g. Vowels and non-nasal sonorants, like [1 ɹ ʌ], are [+approx] segments • Laryngeal Features: 1. [±voice]. [+voice] are segments for which the vocal folds are close enough together to allow vibration, while for [−voice] this is not the case. Thus, [+voice] are vowels (e.g. [i ʌ ɛ̃ aɪ]), sonorant consonants (e.g. [m ɲ l r ʀ w]) and voiced obstruents (e.g. [b z ɣ dʒ] and [ɦ]), while [−voice] are voiceless obstruents (e.g. [p θ ʃ ts h]) 2. [±spread glottis]. [+spread] segments have a vocal fold configuration that produces audible friction in the glottis, while [−spread] segments lack such a configuration. Thus, aspirated segments like [ph kwh] and [h ɦ] are [+spread], while other segments are [−spread]. 3. [±constricted glottis]. For [+constr] segments the vocal folds are tense and drawn together, while for [−constr] segments this is not the case. Thus, [ʔ], laryngealized vowels (e.g. [ṵ]) and laryngealized sonorant consonants (e.g. [mʔ ]), glottalized obstruents (e.g. preglottalized [ˀp] or ejective [p’]) are [+constr]. So are implosives ([ɓ ɗ ɠ]). Other segments are [−constr]. • Manner Features: 1. [±continuant]. [+cont] segments lack a central occlusion in the vocal tract, while [−cont] segments are produced with such an occlusion. Thus, plosives (e.g. [p d g]), nasal consonants (e.g. [m ŋ]), affricates (e.g. [tʃ]) and laterals (e.g. [l]) are [−cont], and other segments are [+cont]. Some languages apparently treat laterals as [+cont], which is phonetically understandable in the sense that while these segments have a central occlusion, they have a lateral aperture. 2. [±nasal]. [+nas] segments (e.g. [m n ŋ]) are produced with the velum (‘soft palate’) lowered, and [−nas] segments have the velum in its closed (raised) position. Nasal consonants and nasalized vowels are [+nas]; other segments are [−nas]. 3. [±strident]. [±strident] is relevant for obstruents only and refers to a type of friction.[+strident]segments cause anoisier kind offrictionthan[−strident] segments. [+strident] voiceless fricatives are [f s ʃ χ]; [−strident] ones are [θ ç x]. We discussed Distinctive Features with a very basic understanding. As there are more features to discuss that we were unable to discuss in this essay. All over we can say that the Distinctive feature is a revolutionary invention in generative phonology.
