Product Description

Peter Ladefoged's "A Course in Phonetics" is the hallmark text for the study of linquistics. Retaining the trademark writing style and approach of previous editions, the Fifth Edition begins with technical terms required for describing speech and transcription symbols before moving on to the phonetics of English and other languages. An exciting bonus CD-ROM contains more than 4,000 audio files, including recordings of speech from southern and northern U.S. cities, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, New Zealand, other forms of English, and scores of other languages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73124 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

There's no better book for learning phonetics
Ladefoged is one of the world's best phonetics teachers, and this book does not disappoint. Phonetics is by nature a practical science, where listening, identifying and describing speech sounds (and the ability to produce them, as well!) are key skills. Because of this, you might wonder how you could really learn them from a book. The answer is that Ladefoged explains things so well, you'll find yourself practicing all sorts of new sounds within minutes of opening the book.

He starts off in the first chapter by describing the vocal tract and the place and ways that we produce sounds. The second chapter discusses phonetic and phonological transcription, and introduces the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Chapters 3, 4 and 5 deal with English: vowels, consonants and words and sentences (respectively). The next chapter deals with phonation types and airstream mechanisms. The seventh chapter looks at place and manner of articulation. Chapter 8 gives a basic introduction to acoustic phonetics, including spectrogram analysis. Chapter 9 looks more at vowels, and then at vowel-like articulations. The tenth chapter considers syllables and other suprasegmental features. Chapter 11 deals with linguistic phonetics, looking into how phonetics makes languages the way they are (ultimately relating to language change).

In each of these chapters, Ladefoged assumes nothing more than a good command of English and an basic awareness of the major differences between American and British English, and teaches you everything. Experiences with other languages is useful, and his approach uses English primarily as teaching reference rather than a focus. The IPA is used from the beginning, and the front and back inside cover are devoted to its chart. There are exercises at the end of each chapter, including "production exercises", giving you a chance to practice and learn all of the concepts previously discussed. In short, the book is excellent and I cannot recommend it more highly.

Serves it's purpose!!
At times, a rather difficult read, but reading over a couple of times can make all the difference. Does exactly what it says on the tin: 'A Course in Phonetics'. The book basically gives you a course in phonetics. The book contains everything you need to know for the study of Phonetics, including all the relevant tables you need to have. I found the book extremely helpful and could not have completed my degree without it. Throughout the book, Peter Ladefoged gives you the step-by-step guide, starting from easy to hard, of all the existing speech sounds, with instructions on how to pronounce them yourself. At the end of each chapter there are exercises to complete, to make sure you fully understand what you have just read and practiced. A recommended book for anyone interested in Phonetics, or who are planning to study it.

A must for anyone wanting to understand speech
A really excellent book, the maximum amount of infromation in the minimum space, supported by a set of relevant examples. I have used it with a number of people who have needed to gain a good understanding of speech in English and other languages to work in speech analysis and speech synthesis. All of the readers have praised the book and all have said that not only did they find the book useful, they found it really interesting as well. A genuine 5 crown book.