Distinctive features: [+/- distrubted]

[zaba]

I understand that [+/- distributed] is a distinctive feature that describes an articulatory gesture. Wikipedia tells us that:

[+dist] segments the tongue is extended for some distance in the mouth

But, on a class handout I also see that [+dist] entails some aerodynamic qualities of the sound. Is that a mistake? I can see how it describes  an articulatory gesture but not an aerodynamic one. does anyone have any insight into this?

[Daniel]

Gestures generate (aerodynamic) properties of sound. A fricative, for example, contains a noisy range of frequencies, a gesture involving near-closure, and the aerodynamic properties of the latter than generate the former. So in that sense these features, if they are to be taken literally (or even metaphorically) could be described (or could entail) properties in several dimensions.
I can't comment specifically on [±distributed] but that's the case in general.

[zaba]

So distinctive features are organized (mainly but not exclusively) by gesture.

Gesture, in turn, can be described in terms of the sound they produce.

Accordingly, every distinctive feature has a "gestural" and a "aerodynamic" property.

Is this correct?

[Daniel]

Basically, yes. But it might be more complicated than that in some of the details depending on the exact situation. For example, the aerodynamic property might vary based on multiple factors, but there will still be some property, even if not consistent across all phones with that feature.

[zaba]

Is there any resource where I could see the correlation between aerodynamic property and gestural movement per distinctive feature? That'd be GOLDEN. Thanks!

[Daniel]

True. I'm not sure. Have you looked at "the sounds of the worlds languages"? That book is quite detailed. It's not strictly theoretical but would give you a lot of information about articulation.

[zaba]

hmm... I'm not sure if I'm convinced.
What are the gestures related to + son? I can think of the areodynamic ones (I think), but not gestural ones.

[Daniel]

That's a very broad category, but it involves minimal disruption of airflow and often voicing because of how the vocal tract is configured. So while an articulatory perspective isn't great for imagining exactly which sounds fall in the class, articulatory properties are very relevant in studying it.

In the end, these are formal features which exist (if the theory is correct) in our mental representation of the language and are manifested in different ways (acoustic, gestural, etc.). It's simple on the one hand and very complex on the other.

[zaba]

Thanks. One day you'll make a great professor. You're more help now than my current professors anyway.

[jkpate]

Have you tried going to office hours? nobody ever shows up for office hours...

[Daniel]

Indeed, I do often sit at office hours awaiting students with questions