LINGUIST List 13.1447

Thu May 23 2002

Books: Phonetics/ Phonology:Vowels and Consonants

Editor for this issue: Dina Kapetangianni <dinalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. tmac, Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to the Sounds of Languages by Peter Ladefoged

Title:Vowels and Consonants
Subtitle:An Introduction to the Sounds of Languages

Publication Year: 2000
			
Publisher: Blackwell Publishers 
 http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/
			
Book URL: http://www.blackwellpub.com/asp/book.asp?ref=0631214127
			
 
Author: Peter Ladefoged 
				

Paperback: ISBN: 0631214127, Pages: 216, Price: 36.95
Comment: * 30% off with a subscription to Blackwell's LL+
			
Abstract:

This superb introduction to phonetics, with its accompanying CD, is
perfect for anyone who wants to learn about the sounds of
languages. Peter Ladefoged, one of the world's leading phoneticians,
describes how languages use a variety of different sounds, many of
them quite unlike any that occur in well-known languages. People trill
their lips and click their tongues when talking in ways that are
amazing to English speakers. Several of these unusual sounds are
reproduced on the CD.

The book opens with a brief introduction to the main forces working on
the sounds of languages. Using basic terms, Ladefoged outlines the
acoustic components of speech and demonstrates speech
synthesis. Subsequent chapters on computers and speech describe
text-to-speech systems, and show how speech recognition systems
work. The last part of the book describes the sounds of a wide variety
of languages, introducing them to readers largely by means of the CD
that accompanies the book, and by reference to the symbols of the
International Phonetic Alphabet. The contents of the CD are available
on Peter Ladefoged's phonetics site, which includes an online version
of the CD as well as other useful phonetics links.

This is an introductory book on phonetics that will enable readers to
go on to read The Sounds of the World's Languages (Blackwell 1996) by
Peter Ladefoged and Ian Maddieson, and other more advanced books on
phonetics and phonology. With its lucid prose and accompanying CD, it
is also a book to be enjoyed in its own right.

Lingfield(s):Phonetics, Phonology
			 
Written In:English (Language Code: ENG)