Fundamentals of Phonetics: A Practical Guide for Students (3rd Edition) (Allyn & Bacon Communication Sciences and Disorders)

An introduction to the fundamentals of linguistic phonetics filled with learning tools that focus on practical phonetic transcription skills.

Through in-text exercises, this introductory text makes the learning of phonetics clear, systematic, and easy. Appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students in the speech and hearing professions, this book focuses on teaching students the practical skills necessary to successfully perform phonetic transcription of individuals with speech sound disorders. Beginning with pertinent information on normal speech production, this introductory text then introduces students to the transcription of consonants and vowels, connected speech, and individuals with speech sound disorders. Students also learn the transcription of regional and ethnic dialectal variations of speech. Throughout the well-organized text, CD icons, learning exercises, objectives, and study questions help students learn and process the text’s material.

Critical topics associated with speech production such as word stress and transcription of disordered speech are sometimes difficult to grasp for introductory communication science and disorders students. The third edition of Fundamentals of Phonetics meets this challenge by offering readers a clear, welcoming, and practical introduction to phonetics that pairs easy-to-understand prose with an array of helpful learning tools and resources. While learning the fundamentals of speech mechanism anatomy, transcription of connected speech, clinical phonetics, and dialectical variation, students will benefit from learning objectives, extensive exercises with answers provided, a complete glossary of terms, and auditory samples (CD Set available separately) that make learning about phonetic transcription more manageable, systematic, and engaging.

New to This Edition

• New introductory material on the use of electronic fonts (Chapter 1) is provided to acquaint the reader in the use of computer fonts in transcription of speech.
• New information on speech acoustics (Chapters 4 & 5) includes the addition of several spectrograms illustrating the acoustic characteristics of speech sounds to help students better understand vowels and consonant production.
• A complete revision of the clinical phonetics chapter (Chapter 7) includes updated information on speech sound disorders. Readers are provided with expanded coverage relative to the transcription of disordered speech using both diacritical markings and non-English IPA symbols.
• A complete revision of the dialects chapter (Chapter 8) provides the reader with more current information and contemporary perspectives on how native language impacts learning of a second language.
• New and updated exercises throughout the text supplement the new written material and ensure that every learning tool is up-to-date and relevant.  
• Online resources are listed at the end of each chapter, allowing students to learn more about the material they have just covered or to research topics that especially interest them. References have also been updated throughout the text to keep the text current and accurate.
•   Learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter provide the reader with an outline of goals and main concepts.