distinctive feature

noun

, Linguistics.

1. a feature of the sound system of a language that serves as the crucial distinguishing mark between two phonemes, as the distinctive feature of voicing, which distinguishes b from p in English, or nasality, which distinguishes m from b and p.
2. any of a set of phonetic properties, as coronal, nasal, or strident, serving as a basic unit of phonological analysis by which the sounds that are significant in a language can be characterized and distinguished from one another.
3. a component or phonetic feature characterizing a phoneme.

Word History and Origins

Origin of distinctive feature¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Another distinctive feature of the U.K. version is the witty, playful style of flirting and the emphasis on “banter.”

From Los Angeles Times

You write this in your new book, Memory and Authority: “A distinctive feature of American constitutional culture is its quasi-religious veneration of its framers and founders.”

From Slate

It’s not just the modern period, and that’s a distinctive feature of our culture.

From Slate

Eyelash vipers stand out due to a distinctive feature: a set of enlarged spine-like scales positioned atop their eyes.

From Science Daily

He said the case’s “distinctive feature” was “the reiteration and repetition of genocidal speech throughout every sphere of the state in Israel.”

From Seattle Times