Dept.

for Speech, Music and Hearing

Quarterly Progress and Status Report

Distinctive features and phonetic dimensions

Fant, G.

journal: volume: number: year: pages:

STL-QPSR 10 2-3 1969 001-018

http://www.speech.kth.se/qpsr

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

I.

SPEECH ANALYSIS

A.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND PHONETIC DIMENSIONS*

G. F a n t
The purpose of t h i s p a p e r is t o e x p r e s s s o m e c o m m e n t s on the r e c e n t developments of distinctive f e a t u r e theory with specific r e f e r e n c e t o t h e work of Chomsky and Halle (1968). On the whole I c o n s i d e r t h e i r f e a t u r e s y s t e m t o b e a n improvement o v e r that of Jakobson, F a n t , and Halle (1952), one of the m a i n advantages being the introduction of a s e t of tongue body f e a t u r e s i n common f o r vowels and consonants but s e p a r a t e f r o m the consonantal "place of articulation" f e a t u r e s . The b a s i c philosophy of treating phonetics a s a n i n t e g r a l p a r t of g e n e r a l linguistics demands that f e a t u r e s i n addition to t h e i r c l a s s i f i c a t o r y function s h a l l have a definite phonetic function reflecting independently controllable a s p e c t s of the s p e e c h event o r independent elements of perceptual representation. However, t h e r e is a d a n g e r that the i m p a c t of the t h e o r e t i c a l f r a m e with its a p p a r e n t m e r i t s of operational efficiency will give s o m e r e a d e r s the i m p r e s s i o n that the s e t of f e a t u r e s i s once f o r a l l established and that t h e i r phonetic b a s i s h a s been thoroughly investigated. This i s not so. Many of t h e i r propositions a r e int e r e s t i n g and stimulating s t a r t i n g points f o r f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h w h e r e a s o t h e r s I find i n need of a revision. As pointed out by Chomsky and Halle t h e r e a r e s t i l l s e r i o u s s h o r t comings i n o u r g e n e r a l knowledge of the speech event. Their feature sysThe t e m i s a l m o s t entirely based on s p e e c h production categorizations.

exclusion of a c o u s t i c a l and perceptual c o r r e l a t e s was a p r a c t i c a l limitation i n the scope of t h e i r w o r k but a l s o a p p e a r s t o note the i m p o r t a n c e layed on the production stage. It is f a r e a s i e r t o c o n s t r u c t hypothetical f e a t u r e Until we have reached a m o r e solid s y s t e m s than t o t e s t t h e m on any level of the s p e e c h communication chain. This i s r e a l l y o u r p r e s e n t dilemma. b a s i s i n g e n e r a l phonetics any f e a t u r e t h e o r y will r e m a i n "preliminary". H e r e follows m y reaction t o s o m e of t h e b a s i c i s s u e s i n c h a p t e r seven of Sound P a t t e r n of English. 1968).
9

My e a r l i e r comments on distinctive f e a t u r e

t h e o r y may b e found i n the l i s t of r e f e r e n c e s , F a n t (1960a, b , 1966, 1967,

submitted f o r publication i n the proceedings of the Second International C o n g r e s s of Applied Linguistics, Cambridge, England, Sept. 8- 12, 1969.

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969
1. Will we e v e r have a language u n i v e r s a l , finite, and unique s e t of distinctive f e a t u r e s ? The universality a s p e c t s a r e a t t r a c t i v e but I a m somewhat p e s s i m i s t i c about the outlooks. F e a t u r e s a r e a s u n i v e r s a l a s the sound producing conHowever, I a m r a t h e r s c e p s t r a i n t s of t h e human s p e e c h producing m e c h a n i s m and a finite n u m b e r should suffice f o r the c l a s s i f i c a t o r y function. t i c a l concerning t h e uniqueness and t h e r e b y a definite number of f e a t u r e s s i n c e one and the s a m e facts often c a n b e d e s c r i b e d i n a l t e r n a t i v e f o r m s and the c r i t e r i a f o r selecting a n optimum s y s t e m a r e not v e r y rigid. Even if we had a l l the knowledge we needed the choice of f e a t u r e s would b e dependent on the p a r t i c u l a r weight given t o phonetic and g e n e r a l linguistic considerations and the p r e f e r e n c e s of the investigator would i n the last ins t a n c e d e t e r m i n e s o m e of t h e selections. 2. The p r o b l e m is t h e following.

A r e the demands on a f e a t u r e s y s t e m different on t h e c l a s s i f i c a t o r y l e v e l and the phonetic l e v e l ? T h e r e a r e two ways of a r r i v i n g a t features: (1) by selecting a n inven-

t o r y of c l a s s e s suitable f o r encoding of language s t r u c t u r e s and then d e t e r mine t h e i r phonetic c o r r e l a t e s o r (z), t o s t a r t with a n exhaustive analysis of the modes and c o n s t r a i n t s of the s p e e c h producing m e c h a n i s m s and p e r ception and d e t e r m i n e t h e i r distinctive function i n language. relative i m p o r t a n c e layed on one o r the other. Feature t h e o r y h a s t o develop along both lines and i n v e s t i g a t o r s d i f f e r only i n the T h e m a i n approach of Jakobson e t a1 (1 952) was t o s t a r t out with a n ordering of phonemic oppositions and t o identify m i n i m a l distinctions a s the s a m e if motivated by phonetic s i m i l a r i t i e s . The demand f o r a s m a l l e s t possible number of f e a t u r e s and the fargoing identification of f e a t u r e s within t h e vowel and consonant s y s t e m s , e.g. that of identifying the relation between dentals and labials with that of front and back vowels, r e s u l t e d i n a n unavoidable pay-off between encoding efficiency and phonetic r e a l i t y and specifiability. Chomsky and Halle (1968) avoided s o m e of t h e s e difficulties by introducing a g r e a t e r n u m b e r of f e a t u r e s . One of t h e i r b a s i c i s s u e s i s that a f e a t u r e s y s t e m i n addition t o t h e c l a s s i f i c a t o r y efficiency should conform with a n a t u r a l phonetic s y s t e m a t i zation. How have they managed i n t h i s r e s p e c t ? In many i n s t a n c e s s u c h a s dealing with the c l a s s e s of f r i c a t i v e s , stops, n a s a l s , l a t e r a l s , etc. , t h e solution is s t r a i g h t forward. On the o t h e r hand, I find the encoding of

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

3. - .

the c l a s s of labial consonants a s [+ a n t e r i o r ) and [ - coronal] t o constitute a c l e a r c a s e of d e p a r t u r e f r o m the unifying principles. identity on the phonological level. One single phonetic dimension, "labiality", which has a distinctive function has h e r e l o s t i t s It appears to be a r a t h e r far-fetched hypothesis that the actual neural encoding of labial consonants a t s o m e stage should include a selection of a maximal a n t e r i o r point of articulation i n the vocal t r a c t and a l a c k of tongue t i p evaluation i n o r d e r f o r a lower level t o find out that this command has to be executed by the lips and not the tongue. The m a j o r c l a s s f e a t u r e s "vocalic" and "consonantal" introduced already in the work of Jakobson e t a1 and the features "sonorant" and syllabic display a complicated s y s t e m of interdependencies a s will be described in l a t e r sections. The starting point f o r the m a j o r c l a s s features a p p e a r s to have been the need t o encode c e r t a i n pre-established phonetic c l a s s e s whereas the voiced-voiceless feature i s a typical example of the opposite approach,
i. e. t o s t a r t out with a natural phonetic dimension and study i t s distinctive

role i n language.

A natural linguistic c l a s s , i. e. a l l [ r ] -phonemes, may

have r a t h e r complicated s e t s of phonetic c o r r e l a t e s and a natural phonetic

dimension a s voicing may have t o be studied together with s e v e r a l other dimensions a s tensening, durations, and coarticulation when i t comes t o the discussion of i t s distinctive role, Before we can accomplish the happy m a r r i a g e between phonology and phonetics we have to work out the rules f o r predicting the speech event given the output of the phonological component of g r a m m a r . To m e this i s the central, though much neglected, problem of phonetics and i t i s of the s a m e magnitude a s that of generative g r a m m a r in g e n e r a l and will r e quire a s i m i l a r s e t of transformational rules, The starting point i s the The partifeature m a t r i x of a m e s s a g e a s successive phonological segments, i. e, columns each with i t s specific bundle of features, i. e. rows, c u l a r choice of classificatory features a t this stage i s not v e r y important providing the conventions relating phonemes to alternative features s y s t e m s a r e known. The derivation of the rules of this "phonetic component" of language a i m s a t describing the speech production, speech wave, o r perception c o r r e l a t e s of each feature given the "context" i n a very g e n e r a l s e n s e of

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

4.

co-roccurking features within the phohological segment a s well a s those of following and preceding segments. guage ispecificr In additidn t o these m o r e o r l e s s i n e r t i a dependent laws of connecting vocal g e s t u r e s t h e r e may exist rules of n e u r a l reorganization of control signals f o r modifying the physi c a l manifestation of a feature i n accordance with a principle of l e a s t effort articulation, o r the contrary, a compensation f o r maintaining o r sharpening of a phonetic distinction dependent on what features occur o r follow in the t i m e domain. s p e a k e r , sex, type, and dialect, attitude etc. In addition t h e r e e n t e r rules f o r modifications dependent on s t r e s s patterns, intonation, tempo, Rules f o r speech segment durations and sound shapes have t o be expressed in t e r m s of l a r g e r phonological segments, generally s e v e r a l syllables defining a n a t u r a l rhythm i c a l unit i n t e r m s of s t r e s s and intonation. t h e s e rules. Very little is known about T h e r e is s o m e evidence that the phase of maximal intensity One s e t of sequential constraints a r e expreeraible a s coakticulatibn rules which may be both universal and lan-

i n c r e a s e within a syllable is a r e f e r e n c e point f o r ordering rules concerning segment durations (B

. Lindblom,

personal communication).

This "phonetic component!' of the speech event receives v e r y little attention in the work of Chomsky and Halle who m e r e l y r e f e r t o the phonetic c o r r e l a t e s of a feature a s a s c a l e with many s t e p s instead of the binary scaling on the classificatory level. A knowledge of linguistic structuring is of g r e a t importance i n practical communication engineering undertakings such a s the administration of synthesis by rule o r automatic identifications. However, without a c c e s s t o the rules of the "phonetic component" the phonetic a s p e c t of features becomes a s imaginary and empty a s the "Emp e r o r ' s New Clothes" in the s t o r y of H. C. Andersen. Observing the speech wave we a r e not faced with phonemes o r f e a t u r e s but sound segments and m o r e o r l e s s continuous sound shapes with a reciprocal manyto-one relation between phonol.ogica1 and physical units. The s a m e is t r u e In of speech production studied in relation to the phonological transcript.

both c a s e s t h e r e is the need t o define inventories of physical units, F a n t (1968), which a r e not identical t o the distinctive f e a t u r e s but a r e used t o define t h e i r phonetic c o r r e l a t e s . It may be quite p r a c t i c a l t o r e f e r to a specific sequence of segments a s a stop followed by a fricative a t the phonetic level while we may want t o r e f e r t o the whole unit a s a n affricate on the phonological level.

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

5 .

T h o s e who want t o i n c r e a s e t h e i r ? e r s ~ e c t i v e son phonology i n relation t o phonetics should r e a d Ladefoged' s monograph "Linguistic phonetics l1 (1 967a).

A p u r e phonetic s y s t e m was outlined by G. E, P e t e r s o n (1 968).

3.

What is the psychological r e a l i t y of f e a t u r e s ? As d e m o n s t r a t e d i n the previous section f e a t u r e s m u s t , a t l e a s t u n d e r

prototype conditions, have physical c o r r e l a t e s a s observed by a n e x t e r n a l o b s e r v e r of the s p e e c h communication a c t and they should hopefully r e flect c a t e g o r i c a l phenomena i n the encoding and decoding mechanism. This is not t h e s a m e a s a s c r i b i n g each f e a t u r e to a specific b r a i n allocation. We c a n b e a w a r e of a f e a t u r e by introspection but otherwise it may The important thing is that l a c k i m m e d i a t e neurophysiological c o r r e l a t e s . feature matrices,
4.

the actual p r o c e s s e s a r e phenomena that have s o m e a b s t r a c t relation t o o u r

I s the b i n a r v ~ r i n c i ~ilm ~ o r t a n t ? e No, not n e c e s s a r i l y , but i t is convenient. Language r e g u l a r i t i e s and It i s a l s o

language developments m a y i n s o m e i n s t a n c e s b e m o r e easily d e s c r i b e d by s c a l e s of t h r e e o r m o r e l e v e l s , cif. Ladefoged (1967a). questionable whether formulations i n t e r m s of f e a t u r e m a t r i c e s always r e v e a l s m o r e fundamental r u l e s than formulations i n t e r m s of phonemes.

5.

A r e f e a t u r e s independent and orthogonal? T h i s question c a n p e r t a i n both t o the c l a s s i f i c a t o r y , "phonological

level", and t o the phonetic l e v e l discussing the production s p e e c h wave and perceptual c o r r e l a t e s . B e s i d e s the a p p a r e n t c o n s t r a i n t s on possible As d i s c u s s e d by Also, s o m e f e a t u r e s sequences of phonological s e g m e n t s t h e r e e x i s t u n i v e r s a l c o n s t r a i n t s on f e a t u r e combinations within one and the s a m e segment. Chomsky and Halle [t high] would contradict [t low].

o r combinations of f e a t u r e s imply specific signs of o t h e r f e a t u r e i n the s a m e bundle, a s exemplified by [t vocalic] implying [t sonorant].

c l o s e r analysis of interdependencies within the m a j o r c l a s s f e a t u r e s r e v e a l s that the c l a s s of [+ sorlorants] by definition a l s o i n c o r p o r a t e s all

[t s y l l a b i c s ] and a l l

C-

consonantal] segments.

Such c o n s t r a i n t s will b e The

d i s c u s s e d i n g r e a t e r d e t a i l i n the section of m a j o r c l a s s f e a t u r e s . phonetic s i m i l a r i t i e s . Thus the c l a s s of

phonological dependencies within this s e t of f e a t u r e s a r e paralleled by

C-

cons onantala incorporating

vowels and glides m u s t have much i n common with the c l a s s of [t vocalic] incorporating vowels and liquids. In o t h e r words "vocalic" i s a l m o s t the negative of the "consonantal" feature. The phonetic interdependencies a r e apparent even when they a r e not paralleled by c l a s s i f i c a t o r y constraints. The situation had been i d e a l i n We would have
'

the vowel s y s t e m if the perceptually relevant number of dimensions had been the s a m e a s the number of c l a s s i f i c a t o r y f e a t u r e s . had a perfect orthogonal s y s t e m if limited t o the [ t low] o r [ - high] and the [ - back] dimensions corresponding t o the +F1 and +F2 dimensions, respectively. and The f e a t u r e "rounding" i s c o r r e l a t e d with - ( F ~ + F ~ + P ~ ) The s a m e i s t r u e of the thus only partially independent of o t h e r features. a n e x t r e m e t a r g e t ) and duration.

f e a t u r e "tense" which is related to the f o r m a n t p a t t e r n (direction towards Additional f e a t u r e s and/or s c a l e values a r e needed f o r the Swedish vowel s y s t e m as will b e d i s c u s s e d l a t e r . We accordingly have t o r e s o r t to the m i n i m a l c l a i m of Chomsky and Halle that f e a t u r e s should b e a t l e a s t partially independent. t i m e we have t o b e a w a r e of considerable interdependencies.
At the s a m e

This applies

t o t h e i r c l a s s i f i c a t o r y function a s well a s t o t h e i r phonetic c o r r e l a t e s .

6.

A r e differences i n f e a t u r e contents of m a t r i c e s a reliable m e a s u r e of phonetic d i s t a n c e ? No, not always. On a n a v e r a g e b a s i s i t might b e p e r m i s s i b l e t o ex-

p r e s s differences between languages o r d i a l e c t s by summing b i n a r y units i n t h e c l a s s i f i c a t o r y domain and expect s u c h differences t o r e p r e s e n t t h e i r phonetic differences, Ladefoged (1969). number of f e a t u r e s by which they differ. However, one cannot expect the T h e situation was especially It was s t a t e d that t h e t h e [ Q ] being [ - voc] phonetic difference between any two phonemes t o b e proportional to the s e v e r e i n the Jakobson, F a n t , and Halle s y s t e m ,
[Q]

and the [i] of the word "wing" do not have any f e a t u r e s i n common,
[$.

the [ i ] being

voc] [ cons)[

- compact][ - g r a v e ] ,

[ t cons] [ + nasal] [tcompact].

On the phonetic level, on t h e o t h e r hand,

the difference between t h e [i] and the [ n l is m i n i m a l s i n c e t h e e n t i r e [i]

is nasalized and the t r a n s i t i o n f r o m [i] t o [ n ] m e r e l y involves a g e s t u r e

of tongue c l o s u r e which i n d i a l e c t a l v a r i a n t s is omitted. body f e a t u r e s [ -back][-low][+high]

Within the

C homs ky-Halle f r a m e w o r k the situation i s indeed improved s i n c e t h e tongue a r e i n common f o r the two segments.

Consonantal sound{ a r e produced with a r a d i c a l c o n s t r i c t i o n i n the midsagittal region of t h e vocal t r a c t , This c o n s t r i c t i o n l i m i t s the flow of B e c a u s e of the v a r i e t y a i r i n the obstruents and i n the closed phase of r-sounds w h e r e a s i t is "shunted", i. e. by-passed i n l a t e r a l s and nasals. of sounds t o b e included by the f e a t u r e a formulation of the acoustical c o r r e l a t e s becomes r a t h e r complex, the common denominator being a deviation f r o m the i d e a l "vocalic" p a t t e r n by a reduction of the second and/or higher formants. Vocalic sounds a r e produced with a n o r a l opening that s h a l l not exceed that of the high vowels [i] and [ u ] and which by definition shall b e g r e a t e r than that of glides. being nonvocalic. In addition the vocal c o r d s s h a l l be positioned to allow This requirement rules out unvoiced vowels a s The acoustic c o r r e l a t e O r a l opening h e r e includes l a t e r a l opening and i n c a s e f o r spontaneous voicing.

of sonorant [ r] -sounds the m o r e open intervals.

i s a higher F1 and higher o v e r a l l intensity than i n nonvocalic sounds. Syllabic sounds f o r m a syllabic peak i n the sequence of sound events. Obstruents a r e by definition exchided f r o m the possibility of forming s y l labic peaks, w h e r e a s syllabic n a s a l s and liquids between o b s t r u e n t s a r e basically c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the s a m e c r i t e r i o n a s that of vowels between obstruents o r glides. acoustic c o r r e l a t e . Sonorant sounds. The relative d e g r e e of sonority c a n b e based on
A weighted s u m of second and f i r s t formant inten-

sity relative to that of adjacent phonetic segment would b e the s i m p l e s t

exactly the s a m e c r i t e r i a a s f o r syllabicity except that the relative d e g r e e of sonority i s related to a l t e r n a t i v e compositions of one and the s a m e s e g ment w h e r e a s syllabicity implies c o m p a r i s o n s i n the t i m e domain. The production c c r r e l a t e of sonority i s the s u m of vocal t r a c t openings including o r a l , nasal, and l a t e r a l p a s s a g e s which i s l a r g e r than that found i n obstruents. Thus [ - s o n o r a n t ] = obatruent. An interesting c l a i m not yet verified i s that nonsonorarit sounds would not allow "spontaneous voicing" and that a compensation of glottal adjustment to counteract the i m p a i r e d flow would b e n e c e s s a r y . T h e interdependencies between b a s i c c l a s s f e a t u r e s a r e a s a p p a r e n t on the phonetic level a s on the c l a s s i f i c a t o r y level. The situation i s even m o r e complicated by the fact that the continuant -noncontinuant (stop) f e a t u r e i s the s a m e a s the consonantal f e a t u r e , except that the d e g r e e of

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

9 .

p r i m a r y s t r i c t u r e is total i n stops and i n the closed i n t e r v a l of a f f r i c a t e s but not total i n the [+consonantal][+continuant] fricatives. I fully a g r e e with Chomsky and Kalle on the need f o r replacing the "vocalic" f e a t u r e by the "syllabic" feature. The syllabicity s e e m s t o b e m o r e easily t e s t a b l e than the vocalicity which employs a disputable t h r e s hold between liquids and glides which does not focus on the important differences. F u r t h e r m o r e , I suggest a f u r t h e r reduction of the number of f e a t u r e s dealing with vocal t r a c t opening by replacing the f e a t u r e s "consonantal" and "continuant" by one single f e a t u r e (medially) "closed" which i s identical t o the "consonantal" f e a t u r e but f o r a n extension t o s e p a r a t e s t o p s and a f f r i c a t e s f r o m f r i c a t i v e s , Before applying t h i s f e a t u r e we s h a l l study hov.1 s o m e of the m a i n phonetic c l a s s e s a r e encoded.

TABLE I-A-1 vowels n a s a l s l a t e r a l s r-sounds syllabic consonantal s ono rant na s a1 lateral continuant inst. r e l e a s e affri- fricaglides+h stops c a t e s tives

+
(+)

-.

(+)+
+(+)

- t (+I +
+ (+>

(+)

+ +
( - ) (-)

(+I

(+I

(-)

(-)
(+I

(-1
(+)

(4

F e a t u r e s that by definition a r e implied by o t h e r f e a t u r e s of the s a m e phonological segment a r e m a r k e d with parantheses. s e n t o t h e r instances of "unmarkedness", i. e, of physiological c o n s t r a i n t s , o r ( c ) o c c u r r e n c e i n r a r e c a s e s only. Blank s p a c e s r e p r e ( a ) not applicable b e c a u s e

(b) i r r e l e v a n t f o r the c l a s s i f i c a t o r y function, In detailed feature-analysis it

would b e valuable t o have s e p a r a t e notations f o r t h e s e f o u r different a s pects of u n m a r k e d n e s s and a l s o f o r the fifth a s p e c t , that related to sequent i a l c o n s t r a i n t s a s implied by a l l higher l e v e l s of analysis. According t o Chomsky and Halle the [ + n a s a l ] f e a t u r e when added t o s t o p s could stand f o r prenasalization, i. e. instance ( c ) above, w h e r e a s +nasal, when added to vowels o r liquids, is a contextual v a r i a n t due t o adjacent n a s a l consonants and c a n thus b e omitted f r o m the m a t r i x ( c a s e (b) above).

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

It i s interesting t o note that if the f e a t u r e m a t r i x is t o b e used f o r d e s c r i p t i o n of actual phonetic s t a t e s , i t would not be possible to distinguish between p r o p e r n a s a l consonants and nasalized [ r ) -sounds. This is a consequence of liquids being opposed t o n a s a l consonants i n t e r m s of [ - n a s a l 1 f e a t u r e alone instead of by a specific complex a s the [+vocalic] [+consonantal] i n the e a r l i e r conventions. A s i m i l a r c a s e of defining a phonetic category by t h e negative of a n o t h e r not d i r e c t l y related category i s the encoding of [ r ] - s o u n d s a s

[ -lateral].

It is questionable whether a n inhibition of the l a t e r a l command AddiT h e s e examples a r e analogous t o

i n the production of a n [I] automatically r e s u l t s i n a n [ rl-sound. tional adjustment m a y b e n e c e s s a r y . m o r e objectional,

the [ -coronal, + a n t e r i o r ] encoding of l a b i a l consonants which I c o n s i d e r All t h e s e instances of classification i n t e r m s of combinations and selections f r o m a finite s e t a r e acceptable provided we give up the demand that e a c h f e a t u r e s h a l l r e p r e s e n t a n independent and s p e c i fic production category. A coding t r e e related t o Table I-A-1 i s shown i n Fig. I-A-1, labic f e a t u r e p r e s i d e s i n the top but this is not crucial. f e a t u r e on top. cies, T h e syl-

The s a m e number

of yes-no branching points would have been needed if we put the sonority Now, coding t r e e s a r e deceptive i n a way s i n c e a l l s o r t s of variations and h i e r a r c h i e s a r e possible b e c a u s e of inherent redundanHowever, the manipulation of coding t r e e s h a s the pedagogical m e r i t of bringing out t h e s e redundancies. E x a m p l e s of coding t r e e s f o r the reduced s e t of f e a t u r e s I have p r o posed a r e shown i n Figs. I-A-2 and I-A-3. the top place. In one the syllabic f e a t u r e is placed on the top, i n the o t h e r i t i s given t h e lowest place and sonorant The economy in t e r m s of branching points i s the s a m e i n Figs. I-A-2 and I-A-3 m e r e l y have t h e m e r i t of a It was actually during the construction of a l l the t h r e e figures.

s m a l l e r number of features. and [+consonantal]. i t occurs.

s u c h t r e e s that I observed the complementary distribution of [-continuant] I p r e f e r the t r e e of Fig. I-A-2 which s t a r t s out with the sonorant f e a t u r e related t o vocal t r a c t opening i r r e s p e c t i v e of w h e r e Then, logically follows the f e a t u r e of c l o s u r e i n the vocal The medially closed s o n o r a n t s a r e then t r a c t midsagittal plane, then the m a n n e r of r e l e a s e of this c l o s u r e which applies t o [ -sonorants2 only. s e p a r a t e d into n a s a l s , l a t e r a l s , and r-sounds a s previously d i s c u s s e d

SYLLABIC CONSONANTAL SONOR ANT NASAL LATERAL CONTINUANT INST. RELEASE

+- -- --

. .- --

-*4

vow

L
0

r
0

nos nos 1 r
0

stop affr

fric

glides + h

SYLLABIC

Fig. I-A-l . Coding tree with the basic Chom~ky-Hallefeatures, "syllabic" replacing "vocalic".

SONOR ANT
MID-CLOSU E (consonantal INST. RELEASE NASAL LATERAL SYLLABIC

r -I+

+--

+I1

vow glidesnosnos 1

+a-

+h

r
0

stop affr

fric

C,

, o

Fig. I - A - 2 .

Coding tree with the features contonantal and continuant replaced by a single feature l'mid-closure'l, T h e feature "sonorant" is given the top level.

SYLLABIC

+-*

INST. RELEASE

vow

nas

glid,ees nas

r stop

affr

f ric

SYLLABIC

Fig. I - A - 3 . Alternative coding t r e e with the s a m e features a s in Fig. I-A-2 arranged in a different order, the feature "syllabic" in the top. Note the relation to Fig. I - A - 1 .

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969 and glides a r e opposed to v,>wels a s nonsyllabic.

11. The main acoustic c o r The

r e l a t e of voiced sonorants i s t h e i r higher Fl intensity, w h e r e a s the acoust i c c o r r e l a t e s of "closure" is a reduction of f o r m a n t s higher than F1. specification of t h e n a s a l and the l a t e r a l c o r r e l a t e s a r e not s o simple. They will not b e d i s c u s s e d here. Some detailed comments The c l a s s of h-sounds h a s always been a p r o b l e m in f e a t u r e analysis. I a c c e p t the classification of glides (semivowels) and h-sounds given by Chomsky and Halle a s [t sonorant], [ -consonantal]<* and [ -syllabic object t o t h e i r contrasting of h-sounds t o o t h e r glides a s [+low]. tion with vowels whether [+low] o r [ -low]. but I This

solution i s a n apparent mistake since h-sounds display perfect c o a r t i c u l a The h-sounds, voiced o r unvoiced, a r e produced with a n active glottal readjustment. The p r e s e n c e of the unvoiced h-sound i n the c l a s s of sonorants weakens the s i m p l e acoustic c o r r e l a t e of intensity if this c l a s s s i n c e v e l a r f r i c a tives display s i m i l a r acoustic p a t t e r n s but with m o r e noise i n the region above F2. The d e g r e e to which the intensity i s a s s o c i a t e d with the vocalic formant p a t t e r n s i s accordingly a n e c e s s a r y a s p e c t t o take into account. This fact a l s o c o r r e l a t e s with the affinity of sonorants to b e found next to the syllabic nucleus. Directly related to the classification of h-sounds i s the t r e a t m e n t of aspiration. The s t a t e m e n t of Ghomsky and Halle that a f e a t u r e of heightened subglottal p r e s s u r e s is a n e c e s s a r y r e q u i r e m e n t f o r zspiratior, is not tenable, s e e F a n t , Acoustic Theory of Speech P r o d u c t i o n , pp. 277 -27 9. Instead we need a new f e a t u r e of "glottal relaxation" yet to b e defined that c o v e r s a s p i r a t i o n i n g e n e r a l a s well a s the c l a s s of h-sounds. On the whole, t h e r e is a need f o r f u r t h e r studies of the phonatory m e c h a n i s m i n various situations before we c a n single out the various phonetic components involved i n the various m a n n e r of articulations of stop sounds. The difference between English o r Swedish [P, t , k] and [ b , d , g] involves both a s p i r a t i o n , t e n s e n e s s and voicing a s phonetic p a r a m e t e r s . In initial s t r e s s e d position the a s p i r a t i o n , i. e. glottal relaxation is the obvious c a u s e of t h e delay of voicing i n

Lp,

t , and k].

A higher i n t r a o r a l

s t o p p r e s s u r e , when p r e s e n t , a p p e a r s t o reflect a l a r g e r glottal opening

-:+

o r [ -"midclosure) instead of

-consonantal].

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969
r a t h e r than a higher subglottal p r e s s u r e .

12. At the s a m e t i m e t h e r e a p p e a r s

to be a prolongation of the s t a t e of a r t i c u l a t o r y narrowing i n [ p, t, and k] which accounts f o r a high frequency "fricative" noise superimposed on the f i r s t p a r t of the aspiration. T h e r e a r e a l s o coarticulation differences. especially s o with [b] compared with [p]. f o r Swedish (forthcoming a r t i c l e ) . The range of F 2 - l o c u s a t

the instant of r e l e a s e is g r e a t e r f o r t h e voiced than f o r the unvoiced s t o p s , This c a n b e s e e n i n the d a t a of Lehiste and P e t e r s o n (1961) and I have m e a s u r e d s i m i l a r distributions At the instant of r e l e a s e of [b) b e f o r e a back vowel the tongue takes a position c l o s e t o that of the following vowel whilst the instant of r e l e a s e of the [p] before the s a m e vowel displays a much higher locus, typical of n e u t r a l tongue articulation. that observed immediately a f t e r the r e l e a s e of the [b]. relations should b e studied c l o s e r . It could b e , a s stated by Chomsky and Halle, that the amount of vocal wall tensening could affect the possibility to maintain a prevoicing ( b e f o r e the r e l e a s e ) but I c o n s i d e r the glottal adjustment to b e p r i m a r y and that i t a l s o i s the p r i m a r y c a u s e of the s m a l l difference found i n the t i m e lag of voicing a f t e r r e l e a s e comparing the intervocalic [k, p, t f and [ g , b, d ] and a s s o c i a t e d with this t i m e lag a difference i n the F1 contour ( ~ cut back). 1 The m e r e fact that t h e r e a r e c e r t a i n "tens e-lax" elements associated with the distinction between the English o r Swedish [k, p, t] v e r s u s [b, d , g] i n addition t o the obvious glottal adjustments i s not a sufficient b a s i s f o r s e l ecting the f e a t u r e "tense" r a t h e r than the f e a t u r e "vcice?!'. According t o Chomsky and Halle the c r i t e r i o n f o r classifying [ p , t, k] a s [ + t e n s e ] r a t h e r than [-voiced? would b e that vocal vibrations a r e stopped b e c a u s e of a r t i c ulatory i n t e r a c t i o n r a t h e r than by glottal relaxation. n e s s component. F u r t h e r studies a r e needed. With this c r i t e r i o n I would l a y a g r e a t e r i m p o r t a n c e in the voicing component than i n the t e n s e After about 40 m s e c f r o m the r e l e a s e of the [ p ] the f o r m a n t p a t t e r n follows e s s e n t i a l l y These temporal

The f e a t u r e "distributed" which on the a r t i c u l a t o r y l e v e l i s defined a s a long v e r s u s s h o r t c o n s t r i c t i o n in the d i r e c t i o n of the a i r flow has not b e e n analyzed v e r y closely a s to i t s acoustic c o r r e l a t e s , and t h e s e a r e f a r f r o m obvious. Differences i n s o u r c e location, s i z e of front cavity, and the d e A high frequency ex-

g r e e of coupling t o the back cavities may b e affected.

tension of the noise could b e a n acoustic c o r r e l a t e but I cannot r e a l l y s a y

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969

13.

anything definite b e f o r e I have studied actual s a m p l e s of s p e c t r o g r a m s and cineradiograms. It a p p e a r s t o m e that the m a i n difference between l a b i a l s and labiodentals is that of a l e s s effective v e r s u s a m o r e effective s o u r c e and I a m r a t h e r hesitant t o equate i t with differences i n tongue articulations. In Swedish t h e r e a r e both dental and apical a l v e o l a r s t o p s , the l a t t e r being lexically induced by a previous /r/. The phonological component would have t o w o r k with classifications that differentiate t h e s e articulations. It i s indeed questionable whether the phonetic difference i s that of d i s t r i b uted-nondistributed. Swedish vowels The f e a t u r e "covered" between the Swedish vowels pertaining t o n a r r o w e d , tensed pharynx wall and

a n elevated l a r y n x is suggested t o have s o m e relevance f o r the difference

Ly]

and [a].

T h e r e is no evidence to support

this suggestion a s f a r a s I c a n s e e . The Swedish vowel s y s t e m is of considerable i n t e r e s t inview of the l a r g e n u m b e r of sounds contained. [e:],
[i:],

I s h a l l attempt h e r e to c o n s t r u c t a phon-

etic f e a t u r e m a t r i x of Swedish long vowel phonemes, [u:],

Ly:],

[u:],

[&:I

,and the p r e - r allophones, [e] a:

[a:], C &:I, and [e:]of LC:]

[o:],

and [b:],

respectively.

I shall f i r s t attempt t o u s e the Chomsky-Halle

In addition,

tongue-body f e a t u r e s back, low, high, and the rounding feature. ology a r e named "palatal" and "labial".

I have defined two new f e a t u r e s , which i n the consistent a r t i c u l a t o r y t e r m i n T h e s e function a s e x t r e m e d e g r e e s It has b e e n long recognized of tongue-height and lip-rounding, respectively. [Y:], [a:],

that 211 Swedish long vowels of e x t r e m e low f i r s t formant frequency, [i:], and [u:] a r e pronounced a s diphthongs towards a homorganic However, what is not s o obvious and often overlooked i s
is m a d e with a palatal closing g e s t u r e just a s i n [i:] but is produced with a

glide o r fricative. that the vowel

Ly:]

with added lip- rounding and that the front vowel [w:]

l a b i a l g e s t u r e towards c l o s u r e just a s i n the back vowel [u:], b y a n Lo:] i n a vowel shift,

F a n t (1968).

T h e h i s t o r i c a l origin of [u:] i s a tongue fronting of [u:) which was replaced

u] In the Swedish spoken i n Finland C : and [uc]

a r e not differentiated and a r e realized with a single sound shape. c l o s e t o that of [i:], than [Y:] [y:],

The

tongue fronting of the "long" [a:] has now p r o g r e s s e d t o a n articulation

[ e:]

and

[+:I,

g e n e r a l l y a l i t t l e m o r e open As f a r a s I c a n judgd t h e

and a l i t t l e m o r e c l o s e than

[b:].

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969
element of velarization has been completely lostre.

14.
The position of the

m a s s of the tongue in the palatal-velar direction i s not m o r e "velar" than that of the other front vowels, and the apex i s often slightly raised thus tending t o shift the location of the tongue-palate constriction somewhat ant e r i o r of [i:]. However, in the c l a s s of "short", i. e. lax Swedish vowels,

the tongue of [u] is lower than that of

**

[b]

but m o r e velarized.

When sampling formant data on vowels the distinction between Swedish [o:] and [ : and between u] a r e lower.

[b:]

and [u:] may b e obscured i f [u:] and [u:]

a r e sampled a t t h e i r onset and not a t t h e i r t a r g e t values where F 1 and F2 Similarly, the contrast between [y:] and [a:] is i n c r e a s e d if the sampling i s performed a t the l a t e r p a r t of the vowel w h e r e F2 of [u:] has been progressively lowered and F3 of creased.

Cy:]

has been progressively inregion f o r

At the place of the vowel t a r g e t the main constriction is a t the

lips f o r [u:] and [u:] but a t the tongue-palate and in [i:], [ e : ] , [ E:]

Cy:]

and [i:].

The progressingly d e c r e a s i n g tongue-height in the s e r i e s [u:],

[ o:],

[ a :]

[=:I

and i n [u:],

[b:],

[ce:] is paralleled by a n in-

creasing jaw opening, Lindblom (1967).

It has been demonstrated by

Lindblom and Sundberg (1969a and b) that with a minimum jaw opening but otherwise n o r m a l tongue movements the F1 range is considerably reduced. The jaw opening thus adds not only t o the tongue-palate distance but a l s o t o the effective lip-opening, everything e l s e being equal. The oix vowel f e a t u r e s classify the Swedish long vowels a s follows. TABLE I-A-2 Swedish long vowels

[=:I
u: back low high palatal round labial

and [a:] a r e p r e - r allophones of Binary s y s t e m o:

[E:]

and

[b:]

a:

E:

E:

e:

i:

y:

u:

6 :
-

a:

+
-

+
t

+ + - + + - - .
t

. .

+ -

+ t

+
+

.
-

**

Lindblom and Sundberg (1969a) classified [u) a s "velar" but expressed doubts a s t o the phonetic validity. The quality of s h o r t /u/ is generally t r a n s c r i b e d a s [el.

In the consonant s y s t e m the f e a t u r e

should b e used instead of Labialized Long (tense)

[ + a n t e r i o r ] [ &coronal] to define the c l a s s of labial consonants. vowels a r e analogous t6 " r e t r o f l e i " , i. e. [+coronal] vowels. "palatal" o r "labial1'.

SwediSh vowels a r e accordingly diphthongized if they p o s s e s s the f e a t u r e s T h e s e a r e the maximally "close" vowels, c o m p a r e Lindblom and Sundberg (1969 a). An a l t e r n a t i v e m a t r i x m a y b e s e t up with "jaw c l o s u r e " instead of the "palatal" f e a t u r e . [Y:], [u:], and The maximum d e g r e e of jaw c l o s u r e i s found in [i:], With this solution and [u:] which would be labeled [+closed].

u] one gains the distinction i n actual t o n g u e - p l a t 1 5 opening comparing [ :

[+:I

whilst the distinction between [u:] and

Cy:]

is reduced t c one of

labializatiox~only.

One then has to add the r u l e that labialization always

d e t e r m i n e s the diphthongal element when p r e s e n t i n the c l o s e vowels. Note the minimal distinction of [ - b a c k ] separating [w:] f r o m [u:] i n e i t h e r system,

A third and r a t h e r different a l t e r n a t i v e s y s t e m was suggested

by Lindblom and Sundberg (1 969 a). The v a r i e t y of solutions possible i n a s y s t e m of i n t e r r e l a t e d physiologi c a l dimensions s c a l e d according to b i n a r y principles i s indeed a problem. One s o u r c e of variability is that the number of possible combinations gene r a t e d f r o m a given ensemble i s l a r g e r than the number of sounds t o b e encoded. T h e r e f o r e t h e r e may r e s u l t a n ambiguity in f e a t u r e selection. Two o r m o r e physiological p a r a m e t e r s m a y contribute t o one and the s a m e a c o u s t i c a l and perceptual effect which may constitute a m o r e n a t u r a l candidate f o r the r o l e of f e a t u r e , a t l e a s t i n the s e n s e of phonetic feature. L e t u s s e e what happens if we t r y t o simplifjr the inventory of a r t i c u l a t o r y p a r a m e t e r s by grouping together the f e a t u r e s "low", "high", and "palatal" to one single dimension assigning the value 0 f o r the m o s t "open" d e g r e e s [a:],
[z:], and [ce:] and t h e value 3 f o r the maximally palatal [i:].

1 I

Sim-

i l a r l y the f e a t u r e labial i s added to that of rounding accounting f o r u: back h i 1 g h 1 o:

1

a:
1 2 0 1

z:

TABLE I-A-3 : e: i: 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 0 0

y:
0 3
1

u:

a:
0 0
1

0 0 0

0 2
2

0 2 1

round2

A m a t r i x of this s o r t i s e a s i e r t o comprehend than a multidimensional b i n a r y system. T h e r e a r e apparently t h r e e m a j o r c l a s s e s within the s y s [o:], t e m , the b a c k vowels [u:],

[a:] i n which a n i n c r e a s e i n tongue

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969 height goes with i n c r e a s i n g l i p rounding ( p a r t i a l l y jaw dependent).

16. The

unrounded front vowels a r e differentiated by tongue (and jaw) height and the rounded front vowels a r e a l s o differentiated by height and by e x t r a rounding a s a s p e c i a l f e a t u r e of La:), cif. Malmberg (1 956) and F a n t (1966). At t h i s s t a g e we might a s k f o r the acoustic and perceptual c o r r e l a t e s of t h e s e a r t i c u l a t o r y c a t e g o r i e s . of
F I J

The phonetic c o l o r i s mainly dependent

F2' and F but it should b e possible to find a n optimal projection 3 of t h i s three-dimensional s p a c e on a plane. P i l o t experiments now i n prog r e s s a t the Dept. of Speech Communication, KTH ( F a n t , C a r l s o n and ~ r a n s t r b m indicate that a n F1 v e r s u s F ) plot would s e r v e this purpose. 2 is the frequency of the second f o r m a n t i n a two-formant approximation

FA

'

to the vowel.

In mid- and b a c k vowels F' is identical t o F2 and i n high 2 front vowels c l o s e to Fj.
A tentative F

versus plot of Swedish long vowels and s o m e s h o r t 1 2 vowels of specific identity have been plotted on a me1 s c a l e , Fig. I-A-4. In this d i a g r a m we find evidence of a f a i r l y even s p r e a d i n the perceptual domain. T h e a v e r a g e d i s t a n c e between any of the sounds and i t s c l o s e s t The a r t i c u l a t o r y c o r r e l a t e of i n c r e a s i n g F
is in1 c r e a s i n g jaw opening and a shift of tongue place towards a pharyngeal

neighbor i s 180 mels.

position.

The a r t i c u l a t o r y c o r r e l a t e of the ordinate F'h is a shift of the

tongue away f r o m the velum and towards the palate. It c a n b e s e e n that back vowels m a y b e s e p a r a t e d f r o m front vowels by a line of the slope t45 d e g r e e s and rounded vowels f r o m unrounded vowels with a line of -45 d e g r e e s slope. classes. T h e r e f o r e a rotation of coordi n a t e s a s i n Fig. I-A-5 b r i n g s out the d i r e c t c o r r e l a t e s t o the m a i n vowel Back vowels a r e c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a d i s t a n c e between the f i r s t All unrounded front vowels and the second f o r m a n t l o w e r than 400 mels. a n a b s c i s s a of Ml+M; l e s s than 2100 mel. nate comparing [i:, e:,
E:,

l i e c l o s e t o a line of M ~ + M ;= 2200 me1 and the rounded front vowels have The quantal s t e p s i n the o r d i and z:] a r e of the o r d e r of 250-300 m e l s w h e r e

a s the quantal s t e p s in the a b s c i s s a a r e of the o r d e r of 200-250 m e l s . Since we now have condensed the vowel s p a c e t o a plane we have only two orthogonal p a r a m e t e r s . The a b s c i s s a (Ivl1+M2) i s twice the c e n t e r of g r a v i t y of the s p e c t r u m , giving equal weight t o M1 and M ' and will b e identified with the negative 2' of the old f e a t u r e "flat". - Labialization, velarization, jaw closing, l a r y n x
I

STL-QPSR 2-3/1969
lowering will a l l l o w e r the c e n t e r of gravity whilst the ordinate, h e r e

17.

r e f e r r e d t o a s the s p e c t r a l f e a t u r e "spread" i s a m e a s u r e of d i s p e r s o n . Note that it is related t o but not identical t o any of the old f e a t u r e s such a s [ -compactness], [+diffuseness 1, o r [-gravity]. of articulation. [e:],
[i:].

The s p e c t r a l s p r e a d

is i n c r e a s e d with moving the tongue f r o m a pharyngeal t o a palatal place

F i v e levels a r e indicated by the points [a:],

[ x , [ E:], a]
Fig. I-A-5

Note that i n c r e a s i n g jaw opening i n c r e a s e s i n the f i r s t hand

M1 and thus m a k e s the s p e c t r u m l e s s flat and l e s s s p r e a d . "spread" a s follows.

would motivate a quantization of the long vowels i n s c a l e s of "flat" and

TABLE I-A-4
u: "spread" "flat" 0 5 o: 0 4

a: ce:
0 2 1 0

E:

e:
3

i:

y:

at

:
2 1

Q:

parameter M2-M1 -(MI-2)

2 0

3
1

1 2

T h e s e s c a l e s a r e absolute but c a n of c o u r s e b e reduced according t o the principle of complimetltary distributions. The p r o g r e s s i n g "flatness" f r o m f r o m [a:] o v e r Lo:] t o [u:] i s t h e effect of rounding

+ velarization

w h e r e a s the flatness of [u:] i s p r i m a r i l y a m a t t e r of s m a l l l i p opening. As previously d i s c u s s e i no velarization a p p e a r s to b e involved i n [u:] but possible a n "anteriorization".
i. e. l a x Swedish vowels, the /u/,

The possibility of compensatory f o r m s In the c l a s s of "short" phonetically [ o ] i s m o r e "velar" than

of articulations i n the flatness domain a r e apparent. the short

[b],

s e e Fig. I-A-6.

T h e s e facts support a p e r c e p t u a l r a t h e r

than a n a r t i c u l a t o r y feature b a s i s . It h a s often been suggested that a r t i c u l a t o r y d e s c r i p t i o n s of vowels actually r e l y on underlying perceptual classifications, Ladefoged (1 967b). Our d a t a indicate that the Swedish vowels a r e not a r b i t r a r i l y spaced individuals i n the s p a c e of physically producible sounds but show a c l e a r organization i n t e r m s of l i n e a r sequences and a tendency of equili3tant spacings i n a n orthogonal perceptual space. This ordering appears to be F u r t h e r work a s u b s e t of a language u n i v e r s a l s y s t e m of m a x i m a l c o n t r a s t . T h i s idea
w a s also e x p r e s s e d b y L i n d b l o ~ n an'3 Sunclbcrg (1 9 6 3
2).

along t h e s e l i n e s is continuing,

E a r l i e r w o r k on me1 s c a l e mapping of

Swedish vowels was published by F a n t (1959). r e f e r e n c e s on next page

SWEDISH VOWELS Feature "spread"

t o p a l a t a l place

Jaw closing

LABIALIZATION VELARIZATION JAW CLOSING LARYNX LOWERING (FORMANTS MOVING DOWN)

FEATURE "FLAT"

rnels
JAW OPENING VECTOR (INCREASING Ft)

Fig. I-A-5.

Swedish v o w e l s in a "spread" v e r s u s "flat" me1 scale plot bringing out s o m e orthogonal vowel c a t e g o r i e s (back and front v o w e l s ) and a trndency of equidistant me1 s p a c i n g s .

F i g . I-A-6.

X - r a y t r a c i n g s of S w e d i s h vowels. ( ~ r o m a n t , G. : F "The a c o u s t i c s of speech", i n P r o c . of t h e T h i r d I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n g r e s s o n A c o u s t i c s , S t u t t g a r t 1 959, pp. 188-201, F i g . 9, A m s t e r d a m 1 9 6 1 . )