Feature economy in sound systems

Abstract

Feature economy is a principle of sound systems according to which languages tend to maximise the ratio of sounds over features. The major goal of this study is to confirm the predictions of feature economy at the synchronic level, using an objective sampling technique applied to a genetically and areally balanced sample of the world's languages. It also shows that feature economy can be used as a tool in phonological feature analysis, and offers voiced aspirates, voiceless sonorants and various types of glottalised sounds as illustrations. Feature economy applies not only to distinctive feature values, but to redundant values of features that are distinctive or phonologically active elsewhere in the system. Feature economy cannot be reduced to a purely phonetic principle of gesture economy, but may reflect a general principle of linguistic organisation according to which the active categories of a grammatical system tend to be used to maximal effect.

Canadian raising with language-specific weighted constraints

“…Another consideration is whether it can help to explain skews in typology that cannot be explained by phonetics alone. One likely set of cases involves tendencies toward systemic simplicity, like feature economy (Clements 2003). Pater and Moreton (2012) and Pater and Staubs (2013) provide some initial results showing that skews toward systemic simplicity emerge from iterated learning using the basic grammar and learning setup adopted here.…”

Africa as a phonological area

“…--normally (modally) voiced "implosives" do not correlate with glottalized sounds in phoneme inventories, while ejectives and laryngealized sounds do (Clements 2003). …”

Glottalization and Lenition in Nuu-chah-nulth

“…Typical of large inventories, however, the size is derived by cross-cutting a fairly simple inventory with other features (Clements 2003), in this case the features of labialization and glottalization. For present purposes, the crucial point is that four consonant classes must be distinguished for an understanding of glottalization and lenition: (a) oral stops (including affricates), (b) fricatives, (c) nasals, and (d) glides.…”