24.

901
Sept. 13, 2010 Distinctive Features-1 (vowels)
[1] lexical item
string of speech sounds (phonemes); two items distinct if they differ in length or position
each phoneme is composed of a matrix of feature specifications
features are typically binary: [Feature]
features have articulatory and acoustic correlates representing the grammatically controlled aspects of
the sound implemented in the phonetic component
features also have a classificatory function: they define the alphabet of sounds that encodes the
vocabulary of the language in the lexicon; they characterize the natural classes for the rules and
constraints that describe the distribution and change of sounds
feature theory developed at MIT in 1950-52 by Roman Jakobson, Gunnar Fant, Morris Halle
(Preliminaries to Speech Analysis) based on earlier insights of Nikolai Trubetzkoy in the 1930s.
[2] some features for Vowels
i i e c a 5 o u o
high + + + +
low + +
back + + + + +
ATR + + + +
(key words: [i] beat, [i] bit, [e] bait, [c] bet, [] bat, [5] bought, [o] boat, [u] boot, [o] foot
articulatory neutral point for vowels: [c]
[+high] vowel raise tongue body from neutral point; [high] do not; [+low] vowels lower tongue
body below neutral point; [high] do not; [+back] vowels retract tongue body from neutral point; [
back] do not
tense-lax distinction described here as [Advanced Tongue Root]; no consensus on this point
IPA symbols are abbreviations for feature matrixes
each sound is represented as plus, minus, or zero for each feature
every phoneme must be representable as some plus/minus vector for features
feature system is component of Universal Grammar that allows a child to distinguish speech from noise and
begin learning vocabulary of the language of environment
some believe that different part of brain activated for sounds of language as opposed to noise in general
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[3] Chamarro (Guam) fronting of back vowels
vowel system in stressed syllables
front back
high i u
mid e o
low a
gumo house i gimo the house
tomo knee i temo the knee
lahi male i lhi the male
gwihon fish i gwihon the fish
peco chest i peco the chest
informal statement of changes:
u > i after definite article
o > e
a >
but same change occurs in other contexts:
tuno? to know en tino? you know
hulo? up sn hilo? upward
otdot ant mi etdot lots of ants
okso? hill gi ekso? at the hill
lago north sn lgo toward north
[4] statement of rules with IPA symbols
u > i after i, e,
o > e after i, e,
a > after i, e,
this description fails to express the fact that the changes are related:
all occur in the same context
changing sounds [u,o,a] share something in common (back vowels)
same change in each pair: back vowel changes to corresponding front one
[5] But if sounds represented with features then only certain classes of sounds can be expressed simply:
[i,e,] and [u,o,a] are natural classes while [i,e,a] or [u,,a] are not
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sounds that undergo rule: [+back] vowels
sounds that trigger rule: [ back] vowels
sound change: [+back] -> [back]
[6] rules can now be defined to express sound changes: to change a sound is to alter its feature specification
cons > [ back] / cons C
o
____ (C
o
= zero or more consonants)
+back back
a back vowel changes to the corresponding front vowel when vowel of preceding syllable is a front
vowel a rule of assimilation
rule terminology
focus: matrix to be changed by rule
/ = in the context of
____environmental dash locates focus relative to context: before or after
structural change: matrix to right of arrow
[7] neutralization of height/ATR contrasts before [r]
Irish English General American
i weary i cf. wean
i spirit i wicked
e fairy c Mary crazy
c ferry c merry sexy
marry c marry taxi
cons -> ATR / ____ r
back low
[8] [round]
[+round] sounds produced with a compression/pursing of the lips; [round] with lips spread
i y e c a/u o 5 n o r u m
high + + + +
low + + +
back + + + + + + + +
ATR + + + + + + + +
round + + + + + + +
3
French: [i] ligne [y] lune [u] loup
[e] bl [] peu [o] eau
[c] pre [] peur [5] mort
Russian: [i] bit
j
[m] bmt
j
[u] bud
j
'to beat' 'to be' 'be' imper.
Korean: [e] enuri [r] rdi [o] onil
'discount' 'where' 'today'
[8] Turkish vowel harmony
front back
high i y m u
mid/low c a 5
noun pl. his N.
dal dal-lar dal-m 'branch'
k5l k5l-lar k5l-u 'arm'
kmz kmz-lar kmz-m 'daughter'
kul kul-lar kul-u 'slave'
ycl ycl-lcr ycl-i 'wind'
gl gl-lcr gl-y 'sea'
di| di|-lcr di|-i 'tooth'
gyl gyl-lcr gyl-y 'rose'
roots contrast for eight possible vowels
most suffixes contrast for just [high]; values for [back] and [round] determined by harmony
[ cons] -> [ back] / [ back] Co ___ (palatal harmony)
cons -> [ round] / [ round] Co ___ (labial harmony)
+high
what does grammar predict for his slaves?
[9] Tamil (Christdas 1988)
i u *ji, *je, ja, jo, ju wi, we, wa, *wo, *wu
e o
a (asterisked sequences are ungrammatical)
j w
4
Consonants
produced with constriction or obstruction in supralaryngeal vocal tract
traditionally described by place and manner of articulation
up to eleven places distinguished
[1] places of articulation according to the IPA
Place stop fricative
bilabial p, b , |
labiodental f, v
dental t 0, , d
alveolar t, d s, z
postalveolar ,
retroflex [, q ,
palatal c, j , j
velar k, g x,
uvular q, G _, n
pharyngeal h, \
laryngeal ? h,
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A sagittal section of the vocal tract, showing the places of articulation that occur in English.
The coronal region is shown in more detail at the right.
Retroflex
Palato-Alveolar
Coronal
Dental
Alveolar
Coronal
Velar
Palatal
Bilabial
Labiodental
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.
[2] manner of articulation
degree and type of stricture
stop (plosive): complete closure and blockage of airflow; sudden release (acoustic spike) [d]
nasal: oral closure with lowered velum so air flows into nasal cavity [n]
fricative: narrow constriction creating turbulence [z]
affricate: stop with delayed release creating turbulence [d
z
]
approximant: one articulator approaches the other but no turbulence produced
glide (semi-vowel): w, q, j French: Louis [wi], lui [qi], lie [je]
lateral: l, | , / Italian: fili [l] vs. figli [/]
rhotic: +, (r = trilled, r tap/flap) English: red [+], Spanish: perro [r] vs. pero [r]
[3] features for consonants: place and manner of articulation
active oral articulators: [labial], [coronal], [dorsal]
other active articulators: velum ([nasal]), tongue root ([constricted pharynx]), glottis
([spread glottis], [constricted glottis])
nasal: [nasal]; [+nasal] sounds are produced with the velum lowered while [nasal] (oral) sounds have the
velum raised; most languages contrast oral and nasal plosives (i.e. [n] vs. [t]) and some contrast oral and
nasal vowels such as French beau [bo] vs. bon [b5];
nasals are found at the same places as stops: m, p, n, q, , g, N
stricture: [continuant]
[continuant]: stops and affricates
[+continuant]: all others
[delayed release]
[+delayed release]: affricates
[delayed release]: all others
[strident] (bound to coronal articulator)
[+strident]: sibilants (s, t
s
, |, t|, ): high turbulence
[strident]: interdentals 0
[lateral] (bound to coronal articulator)
[+lateral]: side of tongue is lowered
[lateral]: all others
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[4] major place distinctions
labials: [labial]: lower (and upper) lip
[labiodental] [+labio-dental]
[m, p, b, , |] [p, f, v] Spanish: la [|]aca English: la[v]a
coronals: [coronal] front portion of tongue
dental/alveolar vs. alveopalatal: [anterior]
[+anterior] [anterior]
stop t, d c,j Hungarian: kutya
fricative s, z |, English: press [s] p
affricate t
s
, d
z
, t|, d Mandarin: below
nasal n Spanish: cana [n]
[c] Magyar [j]
ressure [] (cf. coif, coifure)
cana []
Mandarin sibilants
dental tsai 51 again sai 51 compete
postalveolar tag 51 rise ag 51 above
(retroflex)
alveolo-palatal tci 55 chicken ci 55 west
high vs. lower turbulence: [strident]
[+strident] [strident]
[s, t
s
, |, t
|
] [0, ] English: sin vs. thin [0]
tip vs. blade (apical vs. laminal): [distributed]
[distributed] [+distributed]
retroflex [[] interdental [0]
dental [t] alveolar [t] Australian Aboriginal
dorsal: [dorsal]: tongue body is articulator;
subsidiary features [high], [back], ([low])
[k'] of keep vs. [k] of coop: [back] vs. [+back]
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n
velar vs. uvular: [+high] [high]
stop k q
g G
fricative x _
pharyngeal: [constricted pharynx] tongue root is articulator
fricative h \
stops not found; difficult to make a closure
laryngeal: [constricted glottis] vocal folds are the active articulators
[constricted gl] [spread gl]
stop ? +
fricative h +
examples:
Arabic gutturals: [dorsal] [constr ph] [high] [back] [voice] [spread gl] [constr gl]
xaali 'my uncle' + + +
aali 'expensive' + + + +
qaal 'he said' + +
haali 'my condition' +
\aali 'high' + +
haal 'mirage' +
?aal 'family, kin' +
[4] Sudanese Arabic (PGG ex. 1.12)
kitaab 'book' bit 'daughter' samak 'fish'
kitaa[f] Fathi bi[t] Fathi sama[k] Fathi
kitaa[p] Samiir bi[s] Samiir sama[k] Samiir
kitaa[p] |ariif bi[|] |ariif sama[k] |ariif
kitaa[p] Xaalid bi[t] Xaalid sama[x] Xaalid
kitaa[p] Hasan bi[t] Hasan sama[k] Hasan
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[5] major class features
[syllabic]
[+syllabic] denotes vowel, carries nucleus of syllable
[syllabic] sounds at margin of syllable or nonsyllabic
[consonantal]
[+cons] oral constriction greater than a glide/semi-vowel
[cons] oral constriction less than a glide/semi-vowel
[sonorant]
[+sonorant] oral constriction not sufficient to cause air pressure to build up
to prevent voicing of vocal folds
[sonorant] oral constriction impedes spontaneous voicing and requires
some adjustment to maintain voicing
syllabic consonantal sonorant
vowel + +
glide +
liquid + +
nasal + +
fricative +
stop +
affricate +
Examples
French high vowel devocalization
il loue [lu]
he rents
lou-er [lwe]
to rent
il lie [li]
he binds
li-er
to bind
[lje]
Palestinian Arabic glide vocalization
dalw-ak
your pail
dalu
pail
dalj-ak
your dish
dali
dish
cf. ?abu
?abu:k
father
your father
Popular English lateral vocalization
feeling [l] feel [fiw]
Argentinian Spanish glide hardening
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le[j] le[]es
law laws
sonorant consonants allow a preceding voicing contrast while obstruents often trigger neutralization
(assimilation)
Russian voicing assimilation:
bjez mamm bjes papm bjez brata
ot mamm ot papm od brata
[6] laryngeal features
[voice]: [+voice] sounds have vibration of the vocal folds; [voice] sounds lack it
[spread glottis]: [+spread gl] is feature for aspirated sounds;
[constricted gl]: [+constricted gl] is the feature for glottalized consonants
[voice] [spread gl] [constricted gl]
voiceless unaspirated: p,t,k
voiced unaspirated: b,d,g +
voiceless aspirated: p
h
,t
h
,k
h
+
voiced aspirated: b
h
,d
h
,g
h
+
voiceless glottalized: p
,
,t
,
,k
,
+
voiced glottalized: 6,d,g + +
no contrast: Finnish p, t, k (cf. voiceless unaspirated stops of English spin, stem, skin
binary contrasts
Spanish: p vs. b voiceless vs. voiced paso 'step' vs. basa 'base'stiff
Mandarin: p vs. p
h
voiceless vs. aspirated pai 'white' vs. p
h
ai 'row'
Nootka: p vs. p
,
voiceless vs. glottalized pa:- 'go' vs. p
?
a 'give away'
ternary contrasts
Thai: p vs. p
h
vs. b paa 'forest' vs. p
h
aa 'to split' vs. baa 'shoulder'
Korean: p vs. p
h
vs. p
,
tal moon vs. tal daughter vs. thal burn
quaternary
Hindi: p vs. p
h
and b vs. b
h
pal 'take care of' vs. p
h
al 'edge of knife' vs. bal 'hair' vs. b
h
al 'forehand'
vocal fold vibration is influenced by a variety of factors; Halle & Stevens (1971) propose adding
features of glottal tension [stiff] and [slack] see PGG pp. 40-1
[6] secondary articulations: superimposition of vocalic lip and tongue-body articulations in combination with
the primary oral constriction
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----------------
labialization: [+round] sa vs. s
w
a cf. whale [h
w
] vs. wail [w] vs. hail [h]
palatalization: [+high, back] sa vs. s
j
a Russian papa vs. p
j
at
j
'five'
velarization: [+high, +back] sa vs. s'a leaf vs. feel [l] vs. [I]
pharyngealization: [+back,+low] sa vs. s
\
a Arabic saif 'sword' vs. s
\
aif 'summer'
[7] prosodic features
quantity/length: [long] duration of articulation
short vs. long vowels: ta vs. ta: (ta vs. taa; ta vs. ta) Czech, Latin
short vs. long (geminate) consonants: tata vs. tatta (tata vs. tat:a) Italian
both consonants and vowels: Japanese, Finnish, Hungarian
Japanese length contrasts
kite coming ki:te listening
site doing sitte knowing
tone: F
0
rate of vibration of vocal folds
level: [hi], [lo]
high vs. nonhigh/low: Moore ta vs. ta Kinande ta vs. ta
high vs. mid vs. low: Yoruba ta vs. ta vs. ta
contour:
rise vs. fall: ta vs. ta (Thai)
stress: phonetic correlates vary among duration, pitch change, energy
stressed vs. unstressed: Russian 'papa
primary vs. secondary: English Ala'bama
further examples
Korean compounds
ap 'front' nat 'sickle' kuk 'nation'
ni 'tooth' nal 'edge' min 'person'
am-ni 'front tooth' nan-nal 'edge of sickle' ku-min 'people'
Spanish article + noun
kasa goma dona tata boka peka
la-kasa la-oma la-ona la-tata la-oka la-peka
'house' 'gum' 'lady' 'blemish' 'mouth' 'freckle'
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Japanese verb inflection
negative kak-anai tob-anai mat-anai das-anai
conditional kak-eba tob-eba mat-eba das-eba
tentative kak-oo tob-oo mat-oo das-oo
continuative kak-imasu tob-imasu mat

-imasu da-imasu
basic kak-u tob-u mat
s
-u das-u
Russian voicing contrasts and assimilation
Ivan mam-a Ljud-a pap-a Dim-a vod-a
ot Ivan-a ot-mam-m ot-Ljud-m ot-pap-m od-Dim-m vot-k-a
bjez Ivan-a bjez-mam-m bjez-Ljud-m bjes-pap-m bjez-Dim-m
Spanish indefinite + noun
un aro 'an earring' um beso 'a kiss' un dado 'a die' ug kwerpo 'a body'
Greenlandic Eskimo (high and mid vowels in complementary distribution)
ugsik cow nanoq bear
iga pot senmeq glacier
nuna land nendloq goose
imaq sea ipenaq harpoon strap
ikusik elbow onpik tree
Kikuyu infinitive prefix
o-tcgcra to run o-kuua to carry
o-koora to root out ko-ruya to cook
ko-oria to ask ko-mca to know
ko-h5ta to be able ko-ina to dance
ko-niina to finish o-kaya to cut
o-tuuka to slander ko-aya to divide
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MIT OpenCourseWare
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24.901 Language and Its Structure I: Phonology
Fall 2010
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