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In afeatural writing system, the shapes of the symbols (such as letters) are not arbitrary but encodephonological features of the phonemes that they represent. The termfeatural was introduced byGeoffrey Sampson to describe theKorean alphabet[1]: 120 andPitman shorthand.[1]: 40
Joe Martin introduced the termfeatural notation to describewriting systems that include symbols to represent individual features rather than phonemes. He asserts that "alphabets have no symbols for anything smaller than aphoneme".[2]: 5
Afeatural script represents finer detail than analphabet. Here, symbols do not represent whole phonemes, but rather the elements (features) that make up the phonemes, such asvoicing or itsplace of articulation. In the Korean alphabet, the featural symbols are combined into alphabetic letters, and these letters are in turn joined into syllabic blocks, so the system combines three levels of phonological representation.
Some scholars (e.g.John DeFrancis) reject this class or at least labeling the Korean alphabet as such.[3] Other featural writing systems includestenographies andconstructed scripts of hobbyists and fiction writers (such asTengwar), many of which feature advanced graphic designs corresponding to phonologic properties. It has been shown that even the Latin script has sub-character "features".[4][clarification needed]
This is a small list of examples of featural writing systems by date of creation. The languages for which each system was developed are also shown.
Other scripts may have limited featural elements. Many languages written in theLatin alphabet make use ofdiacritics, and those letters using diacritics are sometimes considered separate letters within the language's alphabet. ThePolish alphabet, for example, indicates apalatal articulation of some consonants with an acute accent. TheInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) also has some featural elements, for example in the hooks and tails that are characteristic of implosives,ɓɗʄɠʛ, and retroflex consonants,ʈɖʂʐɳɻɽɭ. The IPAdiacritics are also featural.[clarification needed]
TheTurkish alphabet uses the presence of one or two dots above a vowel to indicate that it is afront vowel. The Japanesekana syllabaries indicatevoiced consonants with marks known asdakuten. TheFraser alphabet used forLisu rotates the letters for thetenuis consonants ꓑ/p/, ꓔ/t/, ꓝ/ts/, ꓚ/tʃ/, and ꓗ/k/ 180° to indicateaspiration.[discuss]