Book Description

Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology: From Concepts to Transcription provides readers with a basic foundation in both phonetics and phonology. The book has two goals: the first is to connect phonetics and phonology into a conceptual unity and the second is to demonstrate the practical relevance of phonetics, phonology, and phonetic transcription for beginning students in communication disorders and related disciplines, such as linguistics or education. Written with an abundance of real-life examples, this first edition provides readers with a large base of information, from the basic definitions of phonetics and phonology to their practical, clinical applications when analyzing speech samples, demonstrating to future speech language practioners the interconnection between these two areas of of the field. The text's uniqueness lies in the continuous application of the presented information to practical examples, reinforcing to students the relevance of this knowledge to clinical practice while providing the instructor with practical examples which can be used to demonstrate basic principles. An important feature of this book is the inclusion of a phonetic transcription workbook. This workbook guides the student through a systematic learning process beginning with the identification of sounds within words, as opposed to letters, to transcribing multisyllabic words and short phrases. The process is a step-by-step one in which vowels and consonants are introduced in small groups, words are selected based on these sounds, followed by listening and transcription practice. Additional sounds are added systematically and each unit builds upon the next. The workbook will provide the student with many opportunities to learn phonetic transcription in an orderly process. Additional coverage includes: A brief overview of acoustic phonetics relative to the production features of vowels and consonants. An introduction to phonetic transcription to aid student understanding of the pertinence of phonetic transcription when one is gathering information about speech, and a detailed description of production features of vowels and consonants. This text will enable a beginning student to identify and classify each of the vowels and consonants of American English. A lengthy discussion of dialect that covers both popular and professional concepts about dialect as well as definitions of standard English, vernacular English, regional, and social/ethnic dialects. The chapter on dialects also covers vowl shifts and the most recent research on African American Vernacular English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Cantonese, Korean, and Arabic. Coverage of coarticulation, assimilation, and suprasegmental or prosodic variations which occur in continuous speech. Diacritics are discussed in detail. Examples are given for each, drawing from practical, real-life examples. Unique coverage of three theoretical models of phonological development which address speech sound development in completely different ways. Most textbooks do not include phonological development or recent theoretical models such as the nonlinear approaches.