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

is made by the next feature on the list, which is [labial]. The consequence of this
is that /ç/ is the only contrastively [labial] vowel in the inventory.
The next feature is [ATR] (= Advanced Tongue Root). It distinguishes /u/
from /U/ and /´/ from /a/. This feature also accounts for the height differences
in these pairs of vowels, as [ATR] vowels tend to be higher than their non-ATR
counterparts (Archangeli and Pulleyblank 1994). /i/ and /ç/ are not contrastive
for this feature, in this ordering.
The evidence for these contrastive specifications is summed up in (7.13).
(7.13) Summary of evidence for contrastive specifications of Classical
Manchu vowels.
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a. /i/ lacks contrastive [ATR]: /u/ and /´/ trigger ATR harmony,
but /i/ does not, though /i/ is phonetically [ATR].
b. /u/ and /U/ lack contrastive [labial]: /ç/ triggers labial
harmony, but /u/ and /U/ do not, though they are phonetically
[labial].
c. /i/ is contrastively [coronal]: /i/ triggers palatalization of
consonants, suggesting it has some relevant contrastive feature.
d. All vowels contrastively assigned to one of two height classes:
alternations /´/~/a/~/ç/ and /u/~/U/ are limited to a height
class. We need one height feature, which we call [low].
A more detailed discussion of the harmony facts follows.