ABSTRACT
Binary phonological opposition in distinctive feature analysis, based on acoustically analyzed and spectrally defined criteria ( acoustic phonetics, spectral analysis). Acoustic characteristics: presence or absence of a periodic component on the lower range of the spectrogram. Articulatory characteristics: periodic vibration or non-vibration of the vocal cords. In English, all vowels, the liquids [l, r], and the nasals [m, n, ŋ] are voiced. The voiced consonants [b, d, g, v, z, ð, ] stand in opposition t the voiceless consonants [p, t, k, f, s, θ, ∫]. Voiced and voiceless laterals are found in Greenlandic, cf
‹igdlo› ‘igloo’ vs [i’lυ] ‹ilo› ‘innards.’ Voiceless vowels are found in the NiloSaharan language Ik, in the SinoTibetan language Dafla, in the Altaic language Baonang, and in Japanese, cf. ‘Hokusai.’ In the Pama-Nyungan language Bandjalnag as well as in all other indigenous languages of Australia all vowels and all consonants are said to be voiced. In some languages (among others English), the distinction of voiced vs voiceless coincides with the opposition of tense vs lax. For diacritics, see the IPA chart on p. xix.
