Distinctive Features and Natural Classes

Question 1

Natural Classes

Answer 1

A set of sounds that share some feature(s)

Natural classes can be defined by the IPA chart: 
Alveolar sounds
Front vowels
Voiced sounds
Retroflect sounds

Can have 1 feature in common: 
Alveolar sounds
Front vowels
Can have 2+ features in common: 
Alveolar stops
Voiceless stops
High front vowels
High front unrounded vowels

Question 2

How is this helpful?

Answer 2

Many processes do not affect single sounds but sets of sounds:

English flapping rule:
2 rules:
/t/ -> [ɾ]/ Vˈ_ V
/d/ -> [ɾ]/ Vˈ_ V

Question 3

Distinctive Features

Answer 3

Why do we need them?
Allow for greater cross-linguistic understanding of phonemic processes
Give predictive power

There are shared features (which turn out to be meaningful) beyond the IPA categories

Question 4

Binary and non-binary distinctive features

Answer 4

Binary [+/-]
syllabic
consonantal
continuant
voice

All sounds can be classified by these features 
All sounds with a [+ feature]= a natural class
All sounds with a [- feature]= a natural class
A process may affect the  [+ group] or the [-group]
Example only [+voice] get devoiced word finally; only [-voice] get voiced between vowels

Question 5

Non-binary (aka unary)

Answer 5

Non-binary (aka unary)
nasal
coronal
lateral
dorsal

Only sounds within that category are a natural class  Ex. [nasal] is a natural class
       but [all sounds but nasal] is not a natural class

Question 6

Reading the Distinctive feature chart

Answer 6

Slightly different from Zsiga’s classifications
[+/-] = binary category
X = unary category (note: this chart wrongly lists nasal and lateral as binary)

Question 7

Major binary features

Answer 7

[+/- syllabic]
[+/- consonantal]
[+/- sonorant]
[+/- continuant]
[+/- strident]
[+/- voice]

Question 8

Major unary features

Answer 8

[nasal]
[lateral]

Remember for unary features [X] is a natural class, but [- X] is not
No processes affect all sounds except nasals or except laterals
But many processes affect only nasals or only laterals

Question 9

Major Unary Features.. more

Answer 9

[labial]: lip constriction
Bilabial
Labio-dental
Round vowels…more on this later
[coronal]: constriction with front of tongue
Dental
Alveolar
Postalveolar
Alveopalatal
Retroflex
Palatal 
[dorsal]: constriction with tongue body
(Palatal)
Velar
Uvular
Also vowels…more on this later
[pharyngeal]: constriction with tongue root
Pharyngeal consonants
[laryngeal]: glottal constriction
Glottal consonants

Question 10

Redundant features

Answer 10

When specifying distinctive features, try to be as precise as possible without being redundant
If a sound is [+strident] we know it is also:
[+ consonantal]
[-syllabic]
[-sonorant]

Question 11

Vowel features

Answer 11

Features we already know: 
[dorsal]
[+syllabic]
[-consonantal]
[+sonorant]
[+continuant]
[+voice]

Question 12

DORSAL Vowel features

Answer 12

[+/- high]
[+/- low]

High vowels [+high, -low]
Low vowels are [-high, +low]
Mid vowels are [-high, -low}
Mid vowels either pattern with high or low vowels or can be categorized as [-high, -low]

Question 13

Advanced Tongue Root and Rounding

Question 14

English Vowels: Frontness, Roundedness

Answer 14

Front vowels are all unrounded
[i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ]
Beat, bit, bait, bet, bat
Central vowels are also unrounded
[ə, ʌ]
But, about
Back vowels are almost all rounded
[u,ʊ,o,ɔ]
Boot, book, boat, paw
[ɑ] is the one exception: ’pot’

Question 15

Phonetics vs. Phonology

Answer 15

Phonetics: detailed representation of speech

Phonology: abstract representation of sounds & their patterning