The document discusses phonological features of English vowels. It explains that features are theoretical constructs used to analyze phonemes. Features must have a descriptive function to capture phonetic properties, a contrastive function to distinguish phonemes, and a classificatory function to group similar phonemes. The major features discussed are [±sonorant], [±continuant], [±consonantal], height features like [±high] and [±low], and vocalic features like [±back], [±round], and [±tense]. Redundancy rules are also used to make the feature system more economical by predicting predictable features.

1. Phonological Features of English
English Vowels

2. 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
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3. 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.
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4. 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)
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5. A Theory of Features
 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]
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6. A Theory of Features
 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
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7. A Theory of Features
 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
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8. A Theory of Features
 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]
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9. 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)
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10. 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)
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11. 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)
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12. 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
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13. 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)
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14. Major Class Features
 [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.
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15. Major Class Features
 [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]).
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16. Major Class Features
vowelApproximant
semi-vowel
LiquidfricativeOral
stop
Nasal
stop
Feature
+++--+[Sonorant]
++++--[Continuant]
--++++[Consonantal]
i uj wl rf v θ ðp b t dm n ŋ
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17. Vocalic Features
 Vowels are classified phonologically in terms of the
tongue-body features: [± high], [±low], [±back]
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18. 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]
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19. 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]
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20. Manner Feature : [± Back]
 Back vowels produce with tongue toward back of
mouth, retracted from the neutral position
[+ back][- back]
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21. Vocalic Features
There are still identical pairs of vowels
ɒɔaɑʌoɛeʊuɪi
++-+++--++--[back]
--------++++[high]
++++--------[low]
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22. Feature [±Round]
 Rounded [+ round] sounds are produced with a
narrowing of the lip orifice ; spread sounds [-round]
are produced without such narrowing.
[+round]
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23. Vocalic Features
ɒɔaɑʌoɛeʊuɪi
++-+++--++--[back]
--------++++[high]
++++--------[low]
++---+--++--[round]
More contrastive feature are needed
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24. 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.
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25. Vocalic Features
ɒɔaɑʌoɛeʊuɪi
++-+++--++--[back]
--------++++[high]
++++--------[low]
++---+--++--[round]
-+-+-+-+-+-+[tense]
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26. 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.

27. Redundancy Rules
 Their economical nature help narrow the contrastive
classification to the least number of distinctive
features:
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ɒɔaɑʌoɛeʊuɪiFeature
------------[consonantal]
++++++++++++[sonorant]
++++++++++++[continuant]
++-+++--++--[back]
--------++++[high]
++++--------[low]
++---+--++--[round]
-+-+-+-+-+-+[tense]

28. Redundancy Rules
 All vowels in English are [+ Sonorant], [+Continuant],
[- Consonantal]
 So we can make a more economical inventory:
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ɒɔaɑʌoɛeʊuɪiFeature
++-+++--++--[back]
--------++++[high]
++++--------[low]
++---+--++--[round]
-+-+-+-+-+-+[tense]

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End of Presentation
Thank you

30. 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)
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