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A criticism of distinctive features

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Robert D. Wilson
Robert D. Wilson
Affiliation:
English Department, University of California, Los Angeles
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Extract

The relationship between segment and sound is a central concern of phonology.1 A framework for the definition of this relationship is that of distinctive features - proposed by Roman Jakobson and developed by Morris Halle. This framework may be looked at as having two parts: the substantive and the formal. The substantive is made up of the small number of features which, it is claimed (Halle, 1957: 67 ff.), are all that are necessary for describing all the languages of the world - fifteen by the latest count (Halle, 1964a: 329). The formal consists of a number of concepts which appear to have contributed to the definition of the relationship between segment and sound in transformational theory (Chomsky, 1964: 86). Only incidentally will I be concerned with the substantive part of the framework.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , October 1966 , pp. 195 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1966

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References

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