phonology phonological features of english vowels

Phonological Features of English

English Vowels

Introduction

One simple, entirely objective method of establishing phonemes is the commutation test; two phones are realisations of different phonemes if they produce phonological contrast.

E.g. pin /pɪn/, bin /bɪn/

zeal /ziːl/, seal /siːl/

bin /bɪn/, bean /biːn/

pen /pɛn/, pan /pæn/

hat /hæt/, had/hæd/

Initial consonant

Vowel

Final consonant

2/14/20162 Presented by: Eman AlHusaiyan

Introduction

A phoneme, as the minimal contrastive unit, can not be broken up into shorter successive units, but it can be viewed as a bundle of simultaneous units called phonological features.

Phonological features are individual properties whose sum makes up the phoneme.

They, and not the phoneme, are the smallest and most basic units of phonological analysis.


A Theory of Features

Features are, like phonemes, theoretical constructs rather than facts.

There are many ways of analysing a given set of phonemes in terms of sets of features, and feature theory is concerned with finding and defining the most suitable set.

Example: /p/ voiceless – bilabial - stop

/z/ voiced - alveolar – fricative

/m/ voiced – bilabial – nasal (stop)



What tasks do we expect a set of phonological features to perform then?

Features are binary. A phoneme can be either +X or +Y

Now we go back to the previous examples:

/p/ [-voiced]

/z/ [+voiced]

/m/ [+voiced]



But one important function of feature theory is the contrastive function.

Feature must express phonemic contrasts: each phoneme differs from every other phoneme in terms of at least one of the specifications of the features:

/ɔ/ = /ɑ/ =+tense+back+low+round

+tense+back+low-round



A theory of features is one that has a descriptive function (on the phonetic level of representation)

That is, we need all those features that serve in the physical (phonetic) description of a sound.

Features must themselves be phonetic in nature, otherwise they would be useless in the phonemic definition of a sound



Phonological features define natural classes of phonemes with respect to their behaviour.

This classificatory function of feature theory serves in the expression of genrealisations in phonology.

Example: Voiceless plosives form a natural class. They all have the same effect on voicing a following fricative (realized as [s]). Likewise, voiced plosives form a natural class and all have the same effect on a following fricative (realized as [z]).

map[s]- tab[z]

cup[s] – cub[z]


Three Principles Surrounding the Distinctive Feature Set

1. It should be able to characterize all contrasting segments in human languages (contrastive function)

2. It should be transparent with regard to phonetic correlates (descriptive function)

3. It should be able to capture natural classes in a clear fashion (classificatory function)


Distinctive features

Are minimal linguistic units

Are limited/economical

Only binary oppositions are accepted

The universal set of cognitive properties

Are associated with speech sound

Determine the contrast between speech sounds

Describe the ways in which these sounds change

Define the natural classes ( set of sounds)


Uses for Distinctive Features

1. To specify a phoneme (segments)

2. To specify a class of phonemes (categories)

3. To describe the set of speech sounds used in a particular language or dialect

4. To write concise rules of phonetic change

5. To characterize a speech disorder –( e.g. substitution, often involving a change of feature)


Distinctive Features •

Features are binary (+ or - values)

Each speech sound may be described as a “bundle” of features

Each member of every pair of phones is distinguished from the other member by at least one feature value

Features are universal, but a given language may use a subset of features as distinctive


Major Class Features

A) Major classes: [± sonorant], [±continuant] and [±consonantal]

[sonorant]: A sound is [+son] if it is produced with a vocal tract sufficiently open that with modal voiced airflow there is no turbulence; otherwise it is [-son].

[+son]: Vowels, semivowels, approximants, nasal stops, trills.

[-son]: Obstruents (oral stops, fricatives)



[continuant]: A sound is [+cont] if it is produced without closure in the oral cavity; otherwise it is [-cont].

[+cont]: Fricatives, approximants, vowels.

[-cont]: Oral stops (including affricates), nasal stops.



[consonantal]: A sound is [+cons] if it is produced with significant obstruction of the oral vocal tract; otherwise it is [-cons].

[+cons]: Obstruents, nasal stops, liquids (r’s and l’s).

[-cons]: Vowels, semivowels (i.e. glides like [j] and [w]).



vowelApproximantsemi-vowel

LiquidfricativeOral stop

Nasal stop

Feature

+++--+[Sonorant]

++++--[Continuant]

--++++[Consonantal]

i uj wl rf v θ ðp b t dm n ŋ


Vocalic Features

Vowels are classified phonologically in terms of the tongue-body features: [± high], [±low], [±back]


Height features

[high]: A sound is [+high] if it is produced with the tongue body raised from neutral (mid central) position; otherwise it is [-high].

[+high]

[- high]


Height features

[low]: A sound is [+low] if it is produced with the tongue body lowered from neutral (mid central) position; otherwise it is [-low].

[- low]

[+ low]


Manner Feature : [± Back]

Back vowels produce with tongue toward back of mouth, retracted from the neutral position

[+ back][- back]2/14/201620 Presented by: Eman AlHusaiyan

Vocalic Features

There are still identical pairs of vowels

ɒɔaɑʌoɛe ʊuɪi

++-+++--++--[back]

--------++++[high]

++++--------[low]


Feature [±Round]

Rounded [+ round] sounds are produced with a narrowing of the lip orifice ; spread sounds [-round] are produced without such narrowing.

[+round]


Vocalic Features


++-+++--++--[back]

--------++++[high]

++++--------[low]

++---+--++--[round]

More contrastive feature are needed


Feature [±Tense]

Tense sounds [+tense] are produced with a deliberate, accurate, maximally distinct gesture that involves considerable muscular effort; lax sounds [-tense] are produced rapidly and somewhat indistinctly.


Vocalic Features


++-+++--++--[back]

--------++++[high]

++++--------[low]

++---+--++--[round]

-+-+-+-+-+-+[tense]


Redundancy Rules

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Redundancy Rules in Phonological system:

1. They predict all feature specifications that are predictable.

For example, all back vowels are rounded. Therefore, the two features [±back] and [±round] can be combined freely.

Redundancy Rules

Their economical nature help narrow the contrastive classification to the least number of distinctive features:


ɒɔaɑʌoɛe ʊuɪiFeature

------------[consonantal]

++++++++++++[sonorant]

++++++++++++[continuant]

++-+++--++--[back]

--------++++[high]

++++--------[low]

++---+--++--[round]

-+-+-+-+-+-+[tense]

Redundancy Rules

All vowels in English are [+ Sonorant], [+Continuant], [- Consonantal]

So we can make a more economical inventory:


ɒɔaɑʌoɛe ʊuɪiFeature

++-+++--++--[back]

--------++++[high]

++++--------[low]

++---+--++--[round]

-+-+-+-+-+-+[tense]

2/14/2016Presented by: Eman AlHusaiyan29

End of PresentationThank you

References:

Chomsky, Noam, and Morris Halle. 1968. The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row.

Giegerich, H., English Phonology: An Introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Jakobson, Roman, and Morris Halle. 1956. Fundamentals of language. The Hague: Mouton.

http://ipa.typeit.org/ (IPA online keyboard)


http://ipa.typeit.org/

http://ipa.typeit.org/

phonology phonological features of english vowels

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