WordNet
n. an odd or unusual characteristic [syn: peculiarity, distinguishing characteristic]
Wikipedia
In linguistics, a distinctive feature is the most basic unit of phonological structure that may be analyzed in phonological theory.
Distinctive features are grouped into categories according to the natural classes of segments they describe: major class features, laryngeal features, manner features, and place features. These feature categories in turn are further specified on the basis of the phonetic properties of the segments in question.
Since the inception of the phonological analysis of distinctive features in the 1950s, features traditionally have been specified by binary values to signify whether a segment is described by the feature; a positive value, [+], denotes the presence of a feature, while a negative value, [−], indicates its absence. In addition, a phoneme may be unmarked with respect to a feature. However, in recent developments to the theory of distinctive features, phonologists have proposed the existence of single-valued features. These features, called univalent or privative features, can only describe the classes of segments that are said to possess those features, and not the classes that are without them.
Usage examples of "distinctive feature".
A distinctive feature of Newar wax casting is the production of the image from separate parts which are fitted together after casting.
But his browridges, which overhung his large deep-set eyes, were his most distinctive feature, not quite as imposing as men of the Clan, but definitely prominent.
The only distinctive feature anywhere to be seen was an island to the north-east, about a mile off-shore.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of traditional human society is that mated couples live within large groups of other couples with whom they have to cooperate economically.
Its most distinctive feature is two columns of LEDs on the front panel that zip up and down like tachometers to convey a sense of how hard each processor is working.
The sagittal crest was a distinctive feature of gorilla skull architecture not found in other apes or man.
It was a large, concrete building whose distinctive feature was that its walls were composed of tall, wide archways that made the restaurant open-air.
The distinctive feature is that, by using two intersecting beams, Platt gets a stereoscopic effect and can chart the major discontinuities at any distance underground that he wants.