Phonological place features

In this chapter, characteristic patterns of consonantal place feature distribution are investigated. Place features of consonants are those which typically characterize the active articulators involved in consonantal constriction, and the acoustic and perceptual features associated with movements of these articulators. The classification of sounds in terms of place of articulation is as old as the field of linguistics itself. References to labial versus lingual articulations are found in the work of the Indic grammarians dating back to 500 BC, and the Korean writing system hankul devised by King Sejong has a distinct symbol for each major point of articulation. The International Phonetic Alphabet is organized with columns indicating place of articulation and every phonological feature system has some way of distinguishing sounds produced by the lips from those produced by the tongue blade or the tongue body.

Major or primary place features are those which distinguish the major points of articulation, distinguishing labial, coronal and dorsal sounds. For the purposes of describing place contrasts in phonological segment inventories, at least three phonological features appear necessary to distinguish the major points of articulation. These are often labelled as [labial], [coronal], and [dorsal], referring to the lips, front of the tongue and back of the tongue respectively.