Chapter 2 Speech Sounds语言学分析和总结.docxVIP

Chapter II Speech Sounds Distinctive features 区别特征 Distinguish features are features which can distinguish one phoneme from another. They are binary. That is to say, a single feature have two values, + and -- . When we say that a phonetic feature is distinctive we are saying that the + value of that feature found in certain words contrasts with the – value of that feature in other words. Or we may say a sound has either a positive or negative value of a feature. It cannot be something in between. It is a question of “yes” or “no”, not of “more” or “less”. Please illustrate some of the dist