Phonological Phonological FeaturesFeaturesThe Consonant The Consonant SystemSystem-Griegerich pp.112-129--Griegerich pp.112-129-

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Feature theory is an important part of phonological theory.

This chapter will discuss the contrast among English consonant phonemes.

• To characterize different manner of articulation, there are some distinctions between each feature.

• A stop is a sound that involves complete closure of the oral cavity. On the other hand, in continuant, the air stream is not totally blocked in the oral cavity. It can escape continuously through the mouth.

• The definition of stops and continuant are mutually exclusive. Any sound that is not a stop is a continuant, and vice versa.

A sonorant is a sound whose phonetic content is predominantly made up by the sound waves produced by its voicing.

In contrast, obstruent articulation involves an obstruction of the air stream that produces a phonetic effect independent of voicing.

The definition of sonorant and obstruent are mutually exclusive. Any nonsonorant is automatically an obstruent and vice versa.

For the manners of articulation of the consonant, they can be expressed by four possible combinations of the two major class features [± sonorant] [± continuant]. The classification can be seen below:

Nasal (stop)

Oral stop Fricative Approximant

[sonorant] + - - +[continuant] - - + +

Replacing place featureReplacing place feature• [Anterior] sounds are produced with an

obstruction that is located in front of the palato-alveolar region of the mouth; non anterior sounds are produced without such obstruction.

• [+ anterior] covers bilabial, labiodental, dental and alveolar and [- anterior] covers palato-alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.

• [Coronal] sounds are produced with the blade of the tongue raised above its neutral position; non coronal sounds are produced with the blade of the tongue in the neutral position.

• [Strident] sounds are marked acoustically by greater noisiness than their nonstrident counterpart. Some strident are not sibilant.

m n ŋ p t k f θ s ʃ x h ʍ w j r l

[Consonantal] + + + + + + + + + + + + + - - + +

[Sonorant] + + + - - - - - - - - - - + + + +

[Continuant] - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + + +

[Anterior] + + - + + - + + + - - - - - - - +

[Coronal] - + - - + - - + + + - - - - - - +

[Strident] - - - - - - + - + + - - - - - - -

[+ anterior] [- anterior]

[- continuant]m n ŋ

[+ sonorant]p t k

[+ continuant]

f θ s ʃ x h ʍ[- sonorant]

l r j w

[- coronal]

[+ coronal]

[- coronal]

[Round], [High], [Low] and [Round], [High], [Low] and [Back][Back]

The primary use of [Round] and the tongue body feature is in the vowel system. But it is desirable to use these features in the analysis of consonant.

Bilabial consonants are /m p b ʍ w/. /w/ and / ʍ/ have lip rounding and the other have bilabial closure without any rounding of the lip.

So, we can say that /w/ and / ʍ/are [+ round] and all the other consonant are [- round]

However, the tongue-body features of [High], [Low] and [Back] are redundant because usually consonant are not differentiated by the tongue position.

Pair of obstruent: [Voice] and Pair of obstruent: [Voice] and [Tense][Tense]

[Voice] sound is produced with a glottal setting consistent with vocal-fold vibration; a voiceless sound is produced with a glottal setting inconsistent with vocal-fold vibration.

Voicing contrasts occur only within the class of [- sonorant] or obstruent phonemes. The voicing contrasts occur in all oral stops: /p/-/b/, /t/-/d/ and /k/-/g/; fricatives: /f/-/v/, /θ/-/ð/, /s/-/z/, and /ʃ/-/ʒ/; and voiceless fricatives: /x ʍ h/.

Voicing contrast among obstruent is not obvious in all contexts. A phoneme specified as [+ voice] may be fully voiced or lesser

extent devoiced depending on its context, while a [- voice] phoneme is voiceless in all context.

However, to minimize the redundancies of the classification of the features [+ voice] and [-voice], there are another features to notice whether the phoneme is voiced or voiceless. The features are [+ tense] and [- tense].

The phonemes with [+ tense] mean that they are [- voice], while those with [- tense] mean that they are [+ voice].

[Nasal] and [Lateral][Nasal] and [Lateral][Nasal] sounds are produced with a lowered

velum which allows the air stream to escape through the nose; non nasal sounds are produced with a raised velum, so that the air stream can only escape through the mouth.

[Lateral] sounds are produced by lowering the mid section of the tongue at one or both sides, thereby allowing the air to flow out of the mouth in the vicinity of the molar teeth, in non lateral sounds no such side passage is open.

+ sonorant- continuant

+ sonorant+ continuant+ anterior+ coronalFrom the feature, a sound that is both a sonorant

and a noncontinuant must be a nasal. Those consonant are /m n ŋ/.

The only lateral phoneme in English is /l/, so it is [+ lateral] while the other consonants are [- lateral].

[+ nasal]

[+ lateral]

m n ŋ p t k b d g f θ s ʃ x ʍ h v ð z ʒ l r w j

[Consonantal]

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - -

[Sonorant] + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + +

[Continuant]

- - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

[Anterior] + + - + + - + + - + + + - - - - + + + - + - - -

[Coronal] - + - - + - - + - - + + + - - - - + + + + + - -

[Strident] - - - - - - - - - + - + + - - - + - + + - - - -

[Sibilant] - - - - - - - - - - - + + - - - - - + + - - - -

[Round] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

[High] - - + - - + - - + - - - + + + - - - - + - - + +

[Low] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - -

[Back] - - + - - + - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - + -

[Tense] - - - + + + - - - + + + + - - - - - - - - - - -

[Voice] + + + - - - + + + - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +

[Nasal] + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Lateral] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - -