Re: Phonology: How to classify /l/ and /r/

From: "Garth Wallace" <gwalla@...>
> >>>Because they are two different phonemes to you. There are probably
> >>>sounds that sound alike to you which I find extremely different.
> >>
> >>Yes, well, I understand that. What I meant is that there has to be a
> >>reason why the particular sounds [r] and [l] seem to be relatively
> >>frequently merged into one phoneme rather than, say, [r] and [f]. Or [l]
> >>and [j]. I understand that this has to do with the relationships between
> >>different sounds, but I just do not understand what the relationship
> >>between [r] and [l] is.
> >
> >
> > Both are -syllabic +consonantal +approximant +sonorant +contin-artic
> > +contin-acous +del-rel +vox +coronal +anterior.
>
> Okay, I understand syllabic, consonantal, approximant, sonorant, and
> vox, but what do the others mean?
[-contin-artic] "complete closure in oral cavity" (stops, affricates, and
nasals)
[+contin-artic] (vowels, glides, liquids, fricatives)

[-contin-acous] "complete absence of acoustic energy at all but the lowest
frequencies" (stops and affricates)
[+contin-acous] (vowels, glides, liquids, nasals, fricatives)

[-delayed release] "complete oral closure for full duration of the segment"
(non-affricated stops, including nasal stops)
[+delayed release] (everything else)

[+coronal] "articulated with tongue tip/blade" (dentals, alveolars, retroflexes,
palato-alveolars, alveolo-palatals, and palatals)
[-coronal] (other sounds)

[+anterior] "articulated forward of alveolar ridge" (dentals and alveolars)
[-anterior] (other coronal sounds only)

So quoth this guide to features file I have sitting around.

> > But [4] is +tap, while [l] is +lateral.  Not much actual difference...
>
> [4] is a tap and [r] is a trill, but what about [r\]?
[+distributed] "articulated with the tongue blade" (dentals, palato-alveolars,
alveolo-palatals, and palatals).

(the others are [-dist], articulated with the tongue tip; alveolars and
retroflexes)

    *Muke!
--
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