Part Two

Distinctive features and

Natural classes

Phonology: The study of the sound system - i.e. how sounds relate to and interact with each other in a language.

Hypothesis III:

The plural suffix {s} is voiced if it follows a voiced sound, and voiceless if it follows a voiceless sound.

OR: The plural suffix {s} agrees with the preceding sound with respect to the feature [+voice].

 natural class: a group of sounds which share one or more distinctive features and exhibit certain common patterns of behaviour.  • distinctive feature: a minimal contrastive unit which plays a part in building up the sound system of a language, e.g. [+voice] (possessing the property of voicing) and [-voice] (not possessing this property).

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES FOR ENGLISH 1) [+sonorant] ([+son]): produced with a relatively free airflow. 2) [+consonantal] ([+cons]): produced with a major or sharp obstruction in the oral cavity. 3) [+stop]: produced with a complete closure in the oral cavity.  4) [+continuant] ([+cont]): produced without a complete closure at the centre of the oral cavity.5) [+nasal]: produced with the velum lowered, such that air escapes through the nose. 6) [+voice]: produced with the vocal cords in vibration.

1) [p]: The lips are tightly closed, shutting off airflow through the oral cavity; the velum is raised; the vocal cords do not vibrate.ANSWER: [ son], [ cons], [ stop], [ cont], [ nasal], [ voice]

2) [v]: The upper teeth are in loose contact with the lower lip, allowing air to escape with audible friction; the velum is raised; the vocal cords vibrate.ANSWER: [ son], [ cons], [ stop], [ cont], [ nasal], [ voice]

3) [n]: The tip and blade of the tongue are in contact with the alveolar ridge, shutting off airflow through the oral cavity; the velum is lowered, allowing air to escape through the nasal cavity; the vocal cords vibrate.ANSWER: [ son], [ cons], [ stop], [ cont], [ nasal], [ voice]

4) [l]: The tip and blade of the tongue are in contact with the centre of the alveolar ridge, shutting off airflow through the centre of the oral cavity; the sides of the tongue are lowered, allowing air to escape smoothly through the mouth; the velum is raised; the vocal cords vibrate.ANSWER: [ son], [ cons], [ stop], [ cont], [ nasal], [ voice]

5) [i:]: The tongue body is advanced and raised, but not enough to cause obstruction to the airflow, which proceeds smoothly; the velum is raised; the vocal cords vibrate.ANSWER: [ son], [ cons], [ stop], [ cont], [ nasal], [ voice]

7) [+coronal] ([+cor]): produced with the tip and blade of the tongue raised from its neutral position. 8) [+front]: produced with the body of the tongue advanced from its neutral position. 

9) [+back]: produced with the body of the tongue retracted from its neutral position. 

10) [+high]: produced with the body of the tongue raised above its neutral position.

 11) [+low]: produced with the body of the tongue lowered from its neutral position

12) [+labial] ([+lab]): produced with the use of one or both lips 13) [+round]: produced with the lips assuming a rounded shape. 14) [+dental] ([+dent]): produced with the tip of the tongue or the lower lip against the upper teeth. 15) [+tense]: produced with a relatively strong muscular effort, involving greater movements of the articulators from their neutral positions.

Exercise 2Five of the above features -- [cor], [front], [back], [high], [low] – refer to various positions of the tongue. Try articulating the following sounds, and decide whether each of them is ‘+’ or ‘-‘ with respect to the above features.

Distinctive features for [f]:[-son]: because the airflow is not smooth but turbulent;[+cons]: because it is produced with a major obstruction in the oral cavity (formed in this case by the teeth and lip);[-stop]: because there is continuous airflow through the mouth;[+cont]: because there is continuous airflow through the centre of the oral cavity;[-nasal]: because the velum is raised and there is no airflow through the nasal cavity;[-voice]: because the vocal cords do not vibrate;[-cor]: because the tip/blade of the tongue is not raised.[-front]: because the body of the tongue is not advanced;[-back]: because the body of the tongue is not retracted;[-high]: because the body of the tongue is not raised;[-low]: because the body of the tongue is not lowered;[+lab]: because at least one of the lips is involved;[-round]: because the lips are not rounded;[+dent]: because the teeth are involved;

DF for [[+son]: because the airflow is smooth;[-cons]: because there is no major obstruction in the oral cavi ty;[-stop]: because there is continuous airflow through the mouth;[+cont]: because there is continuous airflow through the centre of the oral cavity;[-nasal]: because there is no airflow through the nasal cavity;[+voice]: because the vocal cords vibrate;[-cor]: because the tip/blade of the tongue is not raised.[+front]: because the body of the tongue is advanced;[-back]: because the body of the tongue is not retracted;[+high]: because the body of the tongue is raised;[-low]: because the body of the tongue is not lowered;[-lab]: because the lips are not involved;[-round]: because the lips are not rounded;[-dent]: because the teeth are not involved;[-tense]: because it is produced with relatively low muscular effort and movement (as compared with [i:], which is [+tense]).

DF for [n][+son]: because the airflow is smooth (through the nasal cavity);[+cons]: because there is a major obstruction in the oral cavity;[+stop]: because there is no airflow through the mouth (due to a complete closure in the oral cavity);[-cont]: because there is no airflow through the centre of the oral cavity;[+nasal]: because the velum is lowered and there is airflow through the nasal cavity;[+voice]: because the vocal cords vibrate;[+cor]: because the tip/blade of the tongue is raised.[-front]: because the body of the tongue is not advanced;[-back]: because the body of the tongue is not retracted;[-high]: because the body of the tongue is not raised;[-low]: because the body of the tongue is not lowered;[-lab]: because the lips are not involved;[-round]: because the lips are not rounded;[-dent]: because the teeth are not involved.

FEATURE REDUNDANCIES

Given one particular feature, we can logically predict certain other features. For example:

 1) [+stop] [+cons], because if a sound is produced with

a complete closure in the oral cavity ([+stop]), it must necessarily be produced with a major obstruction ([+consonantal])

2) [-stop] [? cons] why can’t we tell?3) [-cons] [-stop] how can we tell?

Exercise 3Given the features in Column A, can you logically predict the values (‘+’ or ‘-‘) for the features in Column B? Explain why.

A B4) [+nasal] [ son]5) [+back] [ front]6) [-back] [ front]7) [+front] [ back]

Redundancy RulesExamples of universal redundancy rules:1) [+stop] --> [-cont]2) [+cont] --> [-stop]3) [+round] --> [+lab]4) [-lab] --> [-round]5) [+back] --> [-front]6) [+front] --> [-back]

Examples of redundancy rules specific to English:[+nasal] --> [+stop] [+front] --> [-round]Question: What do these rules tell us about English?

Exercise 4Which of the following combinations of features are logically impossible? Can you explain why?

(1) [+stop, +cont](2) [-stop, -cont](3) [-lab, +round](4) [+lab, -round](5) [+stop, -nasal, +son]

Exercise 5The consonant clusters (a) [tw, dw, kw, gw, sw] are possible in an English syllable, as illustrated by words like twig, dwell, quit, Gwen, and swear, respectively; but the clusters (b) *[bw, pw, fw] are not possible. Can you write a simple ‘rule’ that can account for this phenomenon? (Clue: think of a distinctive feature shared between the consonants in the pairs of sounds in (b) which is not shared between those in (a).)