1
Type
Start with broad sound type: consonant, sonorant, syllabic, voiced.
IPA chart guide
How to read distinctive features
Distinctive features are compact labels for how a sound is made. In toIPA popovers, each badge says whether a feature is present or absent for that IPA symbol.
+ feature is present- feature is absent0 values are hidden in the popover
Read them in three passes
2
Place
Then read where the sound is made: labial, coronal, high, back, round.
3
Manner
Finish with airflow and release: nasal, continuant, lateral, strident, delayed release.
Compare
Same place, different features
p
voiceless bilabial stop
+ cons- son- voi+ lab- cont
b
same stop, voiced
+ cons- son+ voi+ lab- cont
m
same place, nasal
+ cons+ son+ voi+ lab+ nas
Common labels
Sound type
- cons
- consonantal
- son
- sonorant
- syl
- syllabic
- voi
- voiced
Place
- lab
- lips
- cor
- tongue blade/front
- ant
- front of the mouth
- distr
- distributed contact
Vowels
- hi
- high tongue
- lo
- low tongue
- back
- back tongue
- round
- rounded lips
Airflow
- cont
- continuous airflow
- nas
- nasal airflow
- lat
- lateral airflow
- strid
- noisy sibilant friction
Release
- delrel
- delayed release
- sg
- spread glottis
- cg
- constricted glottis
- velaric
- click-like airstream
Length and tone
- long
- long segment
- tense
- tense vowel
- hireg
- high register
- hitone
- high tone
What to remember
- Features are a model for comparison, not a replacement for listening to the sound.
- The popover hides 0 values because they usually mean the feature is not specified for that segment.
- A multi-symbol phoneme can have multiple feature sets internally, one for each segment PanPhon can parse.