THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF Lady Treza Sumangil

PHONEMES Presenter
Phonemes were thought to be the ultimate
constituents of language, i.e. the smallest unit
that a sound can be broken down into.
However, in later years phonologists indicated
that phonemes could further be divided into
smaller constituents known as features
a feature is “a phonetic property that can be
used to classify sounds”
SONORANT

A normally voiced sound characterized

by relatively free air flow through the
vocal tract; sonorants include vowels,
semivowels, liquids, and nasals.
The opposite of sonorants are obstruents,
which constrict the flow of air more
severely.
OBSTRUENTS
An obstruent is a plosive, a fricative, or
an affricate, that is, any consonant where
airflow through the vocal tract is obstructed
either completely or at least enough to create
turbulence.
Obstruent is a name referring to consonants
(stops and fricatives) that are produced by
narrowing or complete closure of the vocal
tract; the air pressure is built up inside the
cavity. Obstruents share the feature [-son].
CONSONANTAL

Sounds characterized by a partial or

complete obstruction of the flow of air
through the speech organs.
[+ consonantal]: stops, affricates,
fricatives (excluding [h]), nasals, liquids
[- consonantal]: vowels, semivowels, [h]
 d b g t s z n
 - + + + +
alveolar + + - - - -
bilabial - velar - lenis -
 + - - - -
+
+ + - - + +
+ + + - - -
stop +
 - - + + -
fricative - nasal -
 - - - - +
SYLLABIC
Each syllable in a word requires a syllabic
sound; put another way, every word has just as
many syllabics as there are syllables. Vowels
are always syllabic; nasals and liquids may or
may not be (hence they are marked that way
on the chart); and the other consonants are
never syllabic.
CONTINUANT

The flow of air in continuants is not

blocked at any point in the articulation of
the sound. They include all the sounds other
than stops and affricates.
NASAL

When the velum is relaxed the air flows

through nasal cavity to produce nasal
sounds. English has three [+ nasal]
consonants.
LABIAL

Labial sounds are articulated by an

obstruction at the lips. (This does not
include rounding, which also takes place at
the lips.)
[+ labial]: p, b, f, v, m
ALVEOLAR

Sounds formed by touching or nearly

touching the tip of the tongue to the
hard ridge immediately behind the
upper front teeth.
[+ alveolar]: t, d, s, z, n, l, r
PALATAL

Sounds produced by moving the front

part of the tongue to or near the hard
palate at the roof of the mouth.
 [+ palatal]: [cv], [jv], [sv], [zv], y
(where the “v” indicates a hacek
above the first letter)
VELAR

Sounds produced by moving the back of

the tongue to or near the velum (soft
palate).
[+ velar]: k, g, [eng]
ANTERIOR

Anterior sounds are produced by

an obstruction in the front part of
the oral cavity, from the alveolar
ridge forward. They include
labials, interdentals
CORONAL

Sounds made by raising the front (or

blade) of the tongue from a neutral
position.
[+ coronal]: interdentals, alveolars,
alveolopalatals
SIBILANT

As the name suggests, sibilant sounds

produce a “hissing” effect by forcing the
air through a narrow opening formed
using the middle of the tongue.
[+ sibilant]: [cv, jv, s, z, sv, zv] (where “v”
indicates a hacek)
VOICED

Voiced sounds are produced with

vibrating vocal cords. They include all
sounds that are [+ sonorant], and with
the exception of [h] all obstruents come
in voiced/voiceless pairs.
BACK

A sound produced in vowels and

semivowels with the tongue drawn
back or retracted from a neutral
position.
[+ back]: back vowels and [w]
ROUNDED

Sounds produced with a rounding of

the lips to give a narrow opening.
Rounded sounds include open o, close
o, tense u, lax u, and [w].
HIGH
The body of the tongue is raised in producing
high sounds. This feature applies only to four
vowels in English: tense and lax u and i. Note
that vowels that are neither high nor low (i.e., [-
high], [- low]) are mid vowels, which are
otherwise not categorized here.
LOW
Low sounds are produced with the jaw slightly
open to allow the body of the tongue to draw
lower. American English has three low vowels.
Note that vowels that are neither high nor low
(i.e., [- high], [- low]) are mid vowels, which are
otherwise not categorized here.
TENSE

Tense sounds are produced with a

contraction of muscles at the base of
the tongue. In American English the
feature applies only to vowels that are
not low (that is, [- low]). There are four
[+ tense] vowels [i, e, u, o]