This skillfully written text provides a broad, yet up-to-date, introduction to phonology. Assuming no previous knowledge of phonology or linguistic theory, the authors introduce the basic concepts and build on these progressively, discussing the main theories and illustrating key points with carefully chosen examples. A wide range of phenomena are covered: speech production, segmental contrasts, tone, quantity, prosodic structure, metrical relations and intonation. The main theories, including feature geometry and Optimality Theory are introduced, and their contributions to our understanding of phonology, as well as their shortcomings, are discussed objectively.

In this new edition the authors have revised and updated the text in the light of recent research and also as a result of users' comments.

Students will welcome the range of language from which the authors draw their examples and problems, and the originality of the presentations, discussions and examples

Contents: The Production of Speech Some typology: sameness and difference Making the form fit Underlying and surface representations Distinctive features Ordered rules A case study: the diminutive suffix in Dutch Levels of representation Representing tone Between the segment and the syllable Feature geometry Exploiting the feature tree Stress and feet Further Constraining stress Phonology above the word