Phonetics and Speech Science

Written in a clear, approachable way, this textbook provides an introduction to the science of phonetics: how speech sounds are produced, how we classify them, and how they are processed to allow the rapid transmission of language-based messages. Comprehensive yet accessible, it is ideal for a beginner to the field.

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Phonetics is a fundamental building block not just in linguistics but also in fields such as communication disorders. However, introductions to phonetics can often assume a background in linguistics, whilst at the same time overlooking the clinical and scientific aspects of the field. This textbook fills this gap by providing a comprehensive yet accessible overview of phonetics that delves into the fundamental science underlying the production of speech. Written with beginners in mind, it focuses on the anatomy and physiology of speech, while at the same time explaining the very basics of phonetics, such as the phonemes of English, the International Phonetic Alphabet, and phonetic transcription systems. It presents the sounds of speech as elements of linguistic structure and as the result of complex biological mechanics. It explains complicated terminology in a clear, easy-to-understand way, and provides examples from a range of languages, from disorders of speech, and from language learning.