The contrastive hierarchy in phonology 2009 Dresher.pdf - CUNY ...

7.3.2. Implicit feature hierarchies in practice
Feature hierarchies are often implicit in at least a partial way in the descriptive
practice of phonologists. Consider, for example, the way segment inventories are
presented in charts in descriptive grammars. Compare the inventory tables of
Siglitun (Dorais 2003: 62), 12 an Inuit (Eskimo-Aleut) language spoken in the
Canadian Arctic, and Kolokuma I`jo` (Williamson 1965), 13 an Ijoid (Niger-Congo)
language spoken in Nigeria, given in (7.7) and (7.8), respectively. I present them
as they are given in the sources (with some changes to the phonetic symbols but
not to the arrangement).
(7.7) Siglitun consonants (Dorais 2003: 62)
Bilabial Apical Velar Uvular
Stops p t k q
Voiced fricatives v l j ƒ {
Voiceless fricatives ¬ s
Nasals m n N
12 I have simplified Dorais’s j/dj and s/ch to j and s, respectively. As he makes clear, these are
variants of single phonemes.
13 Williamson notes that Back = palatal, velar or glottal, Vl. = voiceless, and Vd. = voiced. She
mentions that some speakers have a marginal phoneme /ƒ/, but she omits it from the table. I
have added it because it appears to be no less marginal than /h/, which is included.
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