Ch 4 - FeaturesCh 4 - FeaturesSlide 1

•Features are partly acoustic partly articulatory aspects of sounds but they are used for phonology so sometimes they are created to distinguish one sound from others or to group sounds together based on how they behave in phonology!

•Used best to show natural classes being affected by a process.

Ch4 – Features

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•Sonority hierarchy – sonorant is an acoustic feature (remember that non sonorants are called obstruents)

Ch4 – Features

Vowels Glides Liquids Nasals Obstruents

[+syllabic] [–syllabic][–consonantal] [+consonantal]

[+approximant] [–approximant][+sonorant] [-sonorant]

Greater sonority less sonority

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Major class features [ syllabic] - sounds that can act as syllables vowels, and syllabic consonants (not glides)

The center of a syllable is the most sonorous element and as you progress towards the edges of the syllable from the nucleus, the sonority decreases (this explains many phonotactic constraints found in languages as to what sequence consonant clusters can occur in – though not 100%)

Ch4 – Features

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Major class features [ consonantal] - major obstruction in vocal tract obstruents, liquids, nasals (not h) (not glides) [ syllabic] - sounds that can act as syllables vowels, and syllabic consonants (not glides) [ sonorant] - singable sounds vowels, glides, liquids and nasals (even if voiceless) [ approximant] – liquids, glides and vowels

Ch4 – Features

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Manner features [ continuant] – sounds with free or nearly free airflow through oral cavity

fricatives, liquids, glides and vowels (not stops (nasals included)) [ delayed release] [ DR] – the release of a stop is slowed to create a fricative

affricates only (sometimes fricatives included) [ nasal] – sounds produced with a lowered velum (through nasal passage)

nasal stops and nasalized vowels[ lateral] – sounds produced air flowing over sides of tongue

only varieties of l are [+ lateral]Also [+trill] and [+tap]

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•Vowel features

Ch4 – Features

Front Central Back[–back] [+back]

[+front]

[–front]

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•You can download a feature spreadsheet at Bruce Hayes website here:

•http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/120a/index.htm#features

•Also can get practice writing rules using features at website above!

Ch4 – Features

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Place o’ articulation features Different from other features – only certain features apply to the 3 placesFor some, these are neither + or – : they just are according to some (not our text) LABIAL – sounds made with at least one lip CORONAL – sounds made with tongue tip or blade raised (front of tongue) DORSAL – sounds made involving body of tongue

Ch4 – Features

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Place o’ articulation featuresLABIAL

[ round] – sounds produced by protruding the lips[+ round] is [w]; [– round] is [p, b, f, v]

[ labiodental] – lower lip to upper teeth – he uses this feature to distinguish bilabial from labiodental fricatives (others use [strident] or [distributed] but Hayes argues that these features group the labiodentals into a natural class with other [+strident] or [-distributed] sounds which doesn’t have any support in phonology)

[f, v] = [+labiodental]

Ch4 – Features

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[± distributed] – laminal (more of blade of tongue used for articulation) rather than apical (just the tongue tip). Distinguishes dentals and alveopalatals = [+distr] from alveolars = [-distr]

[± lateral] – lateral or not

Ch4 – Features

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Place o’ articulation featuresDORSAL (for vowels and some consonants)

[ high] – tongue body raised higher than a central position[+high] = velars and palatals and high vowels; [–high] = uvulars and

pharyngeals and non-high vowels [ low] – tongue body lowered lower than a central position

low vowels are [+ low]; others are [– low]; [–low] = all consonants except pharyngeals [ back] – produced with tongue body behind palatal region [+ back]

backed velars, uvulars and pharyngeals and back vowels are [+ back]; palatals and fronted/central velars and front vowels not [ front] – produced with tongue body in front of palatal region [+ front]

[+front] = fronted velars and palatals; [–front] = other velars, uvulars and pharyngeals

Ch4 – Features

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Place o’ articulation featuresDORSAL (for vowels and some consonants)

[ tense] – tense vowels are [+ tense]; lax vowels are [– tense] [ reduced] – if the vowel is reduced, it is [+ reduced] (always for ) {this is not part of Hayes’ system but some use this}

[]

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Ch4 – Features

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Consonants (C)LABIAL CORONAL DORSAL

[+ round]

[– round]

[+ anterior]

[– anterior]

[– strident]

[+ strident] [+ back]

[– back]

[+ high]

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Consonants (C)LABIAL

[+labiodental]

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[–labiodental]

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Consonants (C)CORONAL DORSAL

[+ anterior] [– anterior]

[– strident]

[+ strident]

[+ high]

[– low]

[+ front]

[– back]

Ch4 – Features

[+ distributed]

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DORSALCh4 – Features

CORONAL

Glottals are:

[–labial]

[–coronal]

[–dorsal]

[+high] [–back] [–high] [+back][+front] [–front]

[–low]

[+low]

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Place o’ articulation featuresSecondary articulations

Palatalization – add [+dorsal, +high, -low, +front, -back]Velarization – add [+dorsal, +high, -low, -front, +back]Pharyngealization - add [+dorsal, -high, +low, -front, +back]Labialization - add [+labial, +round]

Ch4 – Features

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Place o’ articulation featuresPlace as a group concept

Possible when showing a rule to use just [placei] to indicate that the place of articulation and all of the features involved with that place are included. See p. 89

Ch4 – Features

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Laryngeal features [ voice] – vocal folds vibrating or not

[ spread glottis] [ SG] – aspirated sounds, [h] and breathy vowels are [+ SG]

[ constricted glottis] [ CG] – sounds made with a closed glottis are [+ CG]In English, only is [+ CG], but ejectives are too and preglottalized stops

[ implosive] – implosive sounds are [+implosive]

Ch4 – Features

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Zero features If a feature is not relevant for a sound (usually due to place of articulation), then we can use 0 instead of +/- for that feature which just means not relevant

Ch4 – Features

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Features and rulesHe discusses when to use features and when to use IPA symbolsBasically, an IPA symbol is a substitute for feature matrix and best used when only one sound is involved like Indonesian velar nasal deletion p. 92You should use features when the general process affects a natural class rather than an individual sound!!

Ch4 – Features

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PhonologyRule annotation:A B / X __ YA comes B in the environment between X and Y

Rule annotation for deletion:A Ø / X __ YA is deleted in the environment between X and Y

Rule annotation for epenthesis:Ø A / X __ YA is epenthesized (added) in the environment between X and Y

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Phonology Practice

[b] [] / # __Convert this statement into a rule:

Voiced oral stops become voiceless at the beginning of words.

–sonorant–continuant+voice-DR

[–voice] / # ___

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Phonology Practice

–sonorant+continuant–voice

[+voice] /

Convert this rule into a statement:

– consonantal+syllabic ___

–consonantal+syllabic

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Phonology Practice

C+continuant+del rel+voice-sonorant

[–voice]

Voiced fricatives become voiceless between vowels (intervocalically)

Convert this rule into a statement:

/ V __ V

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Phonology Practice

C+cont+del rel–voice

[+SG]

Voiceless fricatives become aspirated word initially

Convert this rule into a statement:

/ # __

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Phonology Practice

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Phonology Practice

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Phonology PracticeWrite a rule for the Spanish data and assume this rule applies to all voiced stops

-del rel+voice-sonorant

[+continuant] – consonantal+syllabic ___

–consonantal+syllabic

/

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Phonology PracticeLook at Spanish handout and think about it in terms of features

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Phonology PracticeUsing just English consonant phonemes, use features to come up with natural classes.

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Ch4 – Features

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Ch4 – Features

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Ch4 – FeaturesConsider the following data from Mokilese

Can you identify complementary distribution?

If so, write a rule in feature to capture the overall process (not specific rules for specific sounds but for natural classes)

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Ch4 – FeaturesConsider the following data from Mokilese

High vowels become voiceless between voiceless consonants

+syllabic [–voice] / - sonorant ___ - sonorant

+dorsal - voice - voice

+high