LING 201: Consonants distinctive features

Distinctive features are grouped according to the natural segments they are describing, such as:

• Major class features

• Manner features

• Place features

• Laryngeal features

Natural class

A natural class of sounds is one where all the members will be treated equally based on shared features, such as phonetic or acoustic properties.

• sets up an enviro & the phonological process applies to it

Major class features

• Consonantal [± cons]

• Syllabic [± syll]

• Sonorant [± son] OR Obstruent [± obs]

Major class features: Consonantal

Indicates whether a sound is produced with stricture in the central line of the vocal tract, distinguishing consonants from vowels.

[+ cons]

consonants

[- cons]

vowels, glides (produced like a vowel but behaves like a consonant

Major class features: Syllabic

• Distinguishes syllabic consonants from non-syllabic ones.

• Indicates whether a sound can function as a syllable on its own (syllabic nuclei)

• Non-syllabic sounds function as syllabic margins (onset and coda)

[ + syll]

• vowels

• In words like bottle [ˈbɒt.l̩] and rhythm [ˈrɪð.m̩], the final /l̩/ and /m̩/ are [+syllabic] because they serve as the syllable nucleus

[- syll]

• consonants

Major class features: Sonorant

Refers to sounds that allow for a continuous & unobstructed airflow and can function as syllable nuclei.

[+ son]

• vowels

• approximants

• nasals

• liquids

[- son] (less commonly [+ obs]

• plosives

• fricatives

• affricates

Place features

• Labial

• Coronal

  • distributed

  • anterior

Place features: Labial

A stricture of the lips

• some overlap with bilabials, labio-dentals, & round vowels

[ + labial]

• bilabial consonants: /p, b, m/

• Labiodental consonants: /f, v/

• Rounded vowels: /u, o, ɔ/

[- labial]

• alveolar: /t, d, s, n/

• velar: /k, g, ŋ/

Place features: Coronal

Articulated with tongue blade toward:

• front teeth

• alveolar ridge

• hard palate

[+ cor]

• alveolar consonants: /t, d, s, z, n, l/

• dental consonants: /θ, ð/

• post-alveolar consonants: /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/

[- cor]

• labial sounds: /p, b, m, f, v/

• Velar sounds: /k, g, ŋ/

• Glottal sounds: /h, ʔ/

Place features: Coronal (distributed)

Primarily distinguishes laminal (blade) & apical (tip) sounds

[ +dist]

• postalveolar consonants: /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/

• dental consonants: /θ, ð/

[- dist]

• alveolar stops: /t, d/

• alveolar fricatives: /s, z/

• retroflex sounds: (if tip-only, like /ʈ, ɖ/ in some languages)

Place features: Coronal (anterior)

Distinguishes sounds made in front of vs. behind the alveolar ridge.

[+ ant]

front coronal sounds: produced at or in front of the alveolar ridege

• dental: /θ, ð/

• alveolar: /t, d, n, s, z, l/

[- ant]

back coronal sounds: produced behnd the alveolar ridge

• postalveolar: /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/

• retroflex (in some languages like Hindi): /ʈ, ɖ, ɳ, ʂ, ɻ/

Manner features

• nasal

• lateral

• continuant

• strident

Manner features: nasal

distinguishes between sounds produced with a lowered velum vs a raised velum

[+ nas]

• bilabial: /m/

• alveolar: /n/

• velar: /ŋ/

[- nas]

oral

sounds are produced with the velum raised, blocking nasal airflow.

• Oral stops: /p, b, t, d, k, g/

• Oral vowels: /i, e, o, u, a/

Manner features: lateral

Distinguishes between sounds where the airflow if directed along the sides of the tongue vs down the middle of the oral cavity (centrally-articulated sounds, such as rhotics)

[+ lat]

l, ɫ, tɫ', ʎ, ɮ

[- lat]

/r, ʁ, c, t, d, s, z/

• These sounds use central airflow

Manner features: continuant

Distinguishes between stops vs sounds produced with a continuous airstream in the oral tract

[+cont]

fricatives, liquids, glides, vowels

[-cont]

oral & nasal stops, affricates

• b, kʰ, m, n, tʃ, dʒ

Manner features: strident

Distinguishes between sounds with turbulent/ “noisy” airflow that tend to have a noisy, hissing, or buzzing quality vs everything else

[+strid]

sibilant coronals

• s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ

[-strid]

• non-silibant fricatives: f, v, θ, ð

• stops & nasals: p, t, k, b, d, g, m, n

Tongue body features

for vowel distinction

• ± high

• ± low

• ± round

• ± back

[+ high]

Tongue is raised close to the roof of the mouth, from neutral position

• i, u, ɪ, ʊ

[+low]

Vowels produced with the tongue depressed below rest position

• e, o, æ, a

mid-vowels notation

[+ high, + low]

[+ back]

Tongue is positioned toward the back of the mouth

• u, ʊ, o, ɔ, ɑ

[- back]

Tongue is positioned toward the front of the mouth

• i, e, ɛ, æ

[+ round]

Usually found in back vowels, where the tongue is retracted and the lips are rounded

• u, o, ɔ

Laryngeal features

• voiced/voiceless

• spread (glottis)

• constricted (glottis)

[+ voice]

b, g, z

Laryngeal features: spread

Distinguishes between aspirated (incl. “voiced aspirated” = breathy voiced) vs unaspirated

[+ spread]

open glottis

• h, ɦ, pʰ, dʰ

[-spread]

closed glottis

• everything except for , ɦ, pʰ, dʰ

Laryngeal features: constricted

Distinguishes between glottalized sounds (incl. ejective, implosive, creaky voiced) vs non-glottalized

[+constr]

glottalized

• ʔ, p', ɓ, m'

[-constr]

non-glottalized

• everything other than ʔ, p', ɓ, m'