dystynktywne

Dystynktywne is an adjective used in Polish to describe properties that serve to distinguish elements within a system. In linguistics, the term often appears in the plural form cechy dystynktywne, meaning distinctive or contrastive features, which are properties that set apart phonemes, morphemes, or lexical items.

In phonology, dystynktywne cechy are those contrasts that differentiate phonemes. They can be binary, typically represented as +/- features, such as [+voice] vs [-voice], [+nasal] vs [-nasal], or [+round] vs [-round]. They may also include features for place and manner of articulation, vowel height and backness, or tonal distinctions in tonal languages. Features that do not contribute to contrast in a given language are considered non-dystynktywne or non-distinctive.

Beyond phonology, dystynktywne cechy apply to morphology and syntax: grammatical categories such as person, number, gender, tense, aspect, case, and mood can function as distinguishing features that differentiate forms and meanings. The concept supports analyses that encode grammar and sound patterns in a structured, feature-based representation.

The use of dystynktywne features is central to many theories of phonology and grammar, particularly those that model linguistic systems with a feature geometry or a minimal set of contrastive properties. Debates in the field concern which features are necessary, how they are organized hierarchically, and how many features suffice to capture cross-language contrasts.

In Polish scholarly usage, dystynktywne is commonly tied to cechy dystynktywne, and the term is translated as distinctive or contrastive features in English-language linguistic literature.