Chapter 5: Phonological structure: The Phoneme and its allophones.

Segmental specification: Distinctive Features in various phono-logical theories 5.1. Individual sounds and classes of sounds. The phoneme and its contrastive function 5.2. Allophones. Complementary distribution and free variation 5.3. The phonological idiosyncrasy of linguistic systems 5.4. Broad and narrow transcription 5.5. Segmental and suprasegmental phonemes 5.6. From the minimal unit of linguistic analysis to the bundle of distinctive features 5.7. Jakobson and Halles feature system 5.8. Chomsky and Halles distinctive features 5.9. Ladefogeds feature system 5.10. The use of features for segmental specification and for the description of phonological processes

5.10. The use of features for segmental specification and for the description of phonological processes
The features were not devised, construed and described just for the sake of enriching the conceptual inventory handled by phoneticians and phonologists. From the very beginning they were meant to adequately describe the segmental units at the phonological level and to cast light on various phonological alternations or changes. The description of a segment should include as many features as necessary to keep it apart from any other segment in the language. The overall number of features itself was considered to be the minimal set needed to provide distinct descriptions for each and every phoneme of the language (in other words, no two different segments should get the same description). Segments were considered combinations (bundles) of features, each feature working as a bipolar axis along which an opposition could be achieved. Thus, if /p/ can be contrasted to /b/ along the feature [+/- voiced], both labial plosives can be contrasted to another labial stop, /m/, along the feature [+/- nasal]. The complete specification of a segment was only used to keep it apart from any other phoneme in the language. Some features, it was noticed, could be, however, inferred from others. For instance if we know that a segment is [+vocalic] and [-consonantal] (a vowel, that is), features like [+voiced] automatically result from the previous ones, since we know that all vowels are voiced. In the case of English vowels we can also add [- nasal] since there are no nasal vowel phonemes in English, English vowels being only contextually nasalized. Such features in the specification of a segment that can be inferred from the others and need not be included in a minimal specification of the respective segment are called redundant features. A rule that helps us enrich the specification of a segment with its redundant features is called a redundancy rule.

The adding, deletion or changing of features during a phonological process (transformation, change) are considered to be the result of the application of certain phonological rules. A transformation affects certain elements in a given context. The rule bringing about that transformation can apply automatically, that is whenever the conditions for its application are met and then we call about an obligatory change. Other changes can, however, be optional, that is the application of the rule depends on the rate of speaking, style, etc. Deletions offer good examples in this respect. The deletion of the velar before the nasal is obligatory in (k)nife in present-day English, while the deletion of the final consonant cluster in the conjunction is optional in bread a(nd) butter. There is an ordering constraint for the application of phonological rules, in other words they dont apply at random but only in a certain succession, since the application of a rule can create the conditions for another rule to apply or, on the contrary, can limit or even block the application of another rule altogether. In the first case we talk about a feeding order; in the second case we have a bleeding order. Here is the commonest way in which the representation of transformations or structural changes is formalized: X Y / A B where X is the target of, or the element affected by, the transformation, the arrow symbolizes the transformation, Y is the result of the transformation, the slash separates the change proper from the context where it takes place, the dash symbolizing the position of the changed element, A being its left-hand context, that is whatever precedes it and B its right-hand context, that is whatever comes after it. To give a concrete example, if we want to show that n becomes if it is followed by k or g we will represent this transformation thus: n / k g where n is X of our former notation (the element affected by the change), is Y, the result of the transformation, and k and g are B, the right-hand context. Notice that we disregarded A, the left-hand context, as it is irrelevant for our transformation. The phonemes will not, however, be represented by their IPA symbols, but distinctive features will be used instead to specify the respective segments and show what transformations they undergo. The following chapter, devoted to some of the most common phonological processes that occur in connected speech will examine in further detail such changes in terms of the distinctive features that are modified.