Distinctive Features of English Phonemes and Natural Classes

1. Distinctive Features and Natural
Classes of English Phonemes

2. Distinctive Features
 A distinctive feature is a feature that serves to distinguish between two
phonemes, for example, the distinctive of voicing, which distinguishes /b/
from /p/ in English, or nasality, which distinguishes /m/ from /b/.

3. Features Descriptions
Syllabic/Non-Syllabic Syllable sounds; (+syllabic): vowels, syllabic consonants.
Non-syllabic; (-syllabic): glides, son-syllabic consonants
Consonantal/ Non-
Consonantal
Consonantal sounds; (+consonantal): stops, affricates, fricatives (excluding /h/), nasal,
liquids
Non-consonantal; (-consonantal): vowels, semivowels, /h/
Sonorant/Obstruent Sonorant sounds; (+sonorant): vowels, glides, liquids, nasals.
Obstruent sounds: (-sonorant): stops, affricates, fricatives.
Continuant/Non-
Continuant
+Con: vowels, glides, liquids, fricatives
-con: stops, nasals, affricates.
Nasal/Oral +nasal: nasal stops, nasalized consonants, vowels, and glides
-nasal: all other sounds
Lateral/Central +lateral: lateral sonorants, fricatives, and affricates
-lateral: all other sounds
Sibilant/Non-Sibilant +sibilant: s, z,
-sibilant: all other sounds

4. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF CONSONANTS PHONEMES

5. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF VOWEL PHONEMES

6. Natural Classes
 Natural classes are sets of sound that are characterized by a small number
of features.

7. Examples of natural classes of speech
sounds