|
9
|
|
9
|
So, the question is: do all of the consonants in the set 
share the same voicing?
The answer is yes. All of the consonants are voiced.
Therefore, we can define the natural class at least partially in terms of Voicing. However, the classification of voicing doesn't uniquely define this set of consonants as opposed to the consonants that define the other environment. That is, if we were to define the consonants as voiced consonants, we would have to say that the vowels 
appear only before voiced consonants. However, the vowels 
appear before the consonants 
and four of those consonants are voiced.
Therefore we need some other feature besides place of articulation, manner of articulation and voicing to define the set as a natural class of consonants. This is where distinctive feature theory comes in.