A criticism of distinctive features

Abstract

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.