Features

An Introduction to Features

The most basic component of a speech sound is a feature, which can be described as the minimal specification that separates one phoneme from another. In fact, a phoneme can be described as a bundle of features, since all phonemes bear at least two or more. Articulatory features are defined in terms of the place and type of constriction of air as it travels through thevocal tract.

Consonants

Consonants are described by place and manner of articulation as well as by voicing. When the vocal folds vibrate, the phoneme is ‘voiced’ [+voice]. The opposite is true when the vocal folds do not come into contact. [-voice].

You can practice learning the voicing of sounds by gently placing your thumb and index finger on the sides of your larynx (voice box). When you articulate a voiceless sound such as /p/, there should be no vibration of the vocal cords. (Remember not to insert a vowel after /p/.) However, if you produce /b/, you should feel the vocal cords vibrate.

The place of articulation of a phoneme refers to the area in the vocal tract where an active articulator comes into contact with a passive articulator and includes the terms:

More Terms

• Glottal: (also called laryngeal) the glottis is a combination of the vocal chords and the space between them.
• Manners of Articulation describe the obstruction of airflow as it travels through the oral and nasal cavities and include:
• Stops/plosives: total closure with a burst release
• Nasal Stops: no closure; air passes through the nasal cavity as the velum lowers to block airflow from entering the oral cavity
• Fricatives: enough sustained closure to create friction or a ‘hissing’ noise
• Affricates: complete closure with a fricative release
• Liquids: partial sustained closure allowing ‘vowel-like’ resonance
• Glides: also called semi-vowels. Little to no closure and highly resonant
• Approximants: vowel-like with little to no obstruction of airflow, (liquids and glides)

When describing a consonant, list the features in these orders. For stops, fricatives, and affricates: voicing/aspiration, place of articulation, manner of articulation.

Example:
/d/ voiced, alveolar, stop
/p/voiceless bilabial stop

For nasals, liquids, and glides: place of articulation and manner of articulation. Voicing is not mentioned since these phonemes are always [+voice].

Example:
/l/ lateral liquid
/n/ alveolar nasal

You can go to these exercises to practice features of consonants of Standard English!
Phonetics: Places of Articulation 1.1
Phonetics: Manners of Articulation 1.1
Phonetics: Practicing the Description of Consonants in Standard English 1.1

Vowels

Vowel features describe the height of the tongue in the oral cavity (high, mid, low), the part of the tongue (front, central, back), the degree of tension in the tongue and lips (tense/lax), which is sometimes correlated with the position of the root of the tongue (advanced tongue root – ATR) and (retracted tongue root – RTR), and the position of the lips (+/- round).

• high: the tongue is raised towards the hard or soft palate
• low: the tongue is lowered away from the hard or soft palate
• front: the blade of the tongue
• back: the body of the tongue or dorsum

Beyond a very introductory level, binary features are preferred when describing vowels, thus avoiding the usage of the terms ‘mid’ and ‘central’, except where specific languages require very detailed account.

Vowels are labeled as following:

high [+high]                                                   front [-back] mid [-high, -low]                                           central and back [+back] low  [+low]

A binary classification is also possible when there are more than two distinctions, one of which is more salient.  Vowel height can be categorized by [-/+low] since high and low vowels are more common in most languages than mid. Thus high and mid are classified as [-low].

When describing a vowel, list the features in these orders.

• height
• part of the tongue
• tense/lax
• roundness

Example:
/a/  – [low, back, lax, -round] /u/  – [+high, +back, tense, +round]

Tense/lax

These terms are often used interchangeably with Advanced and Retracted Tongue Root (ATR/RTR), however this distinction involves more than simply the root of the tongue.  Tenseness can be more generally distributed throughout the oral cavity as well as in a greater area of the tongue.

ATR/RTR (advanced and retracted tongue root) – when the base of the tongue is forward, lowering the larynx, or retracting the base of the tongue

Other features of vowels in Standard American English include:

• nasal: vowels that precede nasal consonants, e.g., [sĩn] ‘seen’
• devoiced: vowels found flanked by voiceless obstruents, e.g., [t^h ḁp] ‘top’
• long: vowel that precede voiced phonemes are slightly lengthened in contrast to those that precede voiceless sounds, e.g., [sit] ‘seat’ vs. [si:d] ‘seed’

You can go to these exercises to practice features of consonants of Standard English!
Phonetics: Describing Vowels with Features 1.1
Phonetics: Practicing the Description of Vowels in Standard English 1.1

References

• Chomsky, Noam & Halle, Morris (1968). The Sound Pattern of English. New York: Harper and Row.
• Clements, George N. (1985). “The geometry of phonological features”. Phonology Yearbook 2: 225–252. doi:10.1017/S0952675700000440.
• Flynn, Darin. (2006). Articulator Theory. University of Calgary. http://ucalgary.ca/dflynn/files/dflynn/Flynn06.pdf.
• Hall, T. A. (2007). “Segmental features.” In Paul de Lacy, ed., The Cambridge Hndbook of Phonology. 311-334. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press.
• Gussenhoven, Carlos & Jacobs, Haike (2005). Understanding Phonology. London: Hoddor Arnold. ISBN 0-340-80735-0.
• Jakobson, R., G. Fant & Halle, Morris (1952). Preliminaries to Speech Analysis: the Distinctive Features and their Correlates.. Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press.

 

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