English Phonetics and Phonology
A full basic course in phonetics and phonology that is suitable even for those who have been confused by these subjects until now.
English Phonetics and Phonology
Have you ever studied linguistics and been confused or even lost in the world of phonology and phonetics? Ever wished you had a simple resource for either you or your students to use that actually made sense? Then ‘English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical Guide (4th edition)’ by Peter Roach is for you. It is not only a textbook but a full basic course in the field of phonetics and phonology, suitable for either individual study or a class.
The book is divided into 20 chapters which are then divided into a number of subsections, making it really easy to navigate. The front of the book has a detailed Index followed by a list of symbols with examples and an IPA chart. Each chapter has detailed information which is written in an easy to understand manner, and has diagrams and examples. There are also notes for teachers with recommended further reading, recorded exercises and written exercises for practice (answers to the exercises and audio CDS are found at the back of the text). This is the fourth edition, which has been revised and contains more detailed intonation information along with an additional chapter on Varieties of English Pronunciation.
The back of the book has recorded exercises to do with the accompanying audio CDs. These are followed by the answers to the written and recorded exercises. There is a ‘Recommendations for general reading’ section, which is divided into specific topics and is very useful. In addition to the textbook there is an online resource page with additional activities and support available. It has extra exercises, a glossary, advice on typing phonetic symbols, laboratory phonetics and general phonetics resources.
I wish I had had this textbook when doing my MA in Applied Linguistics as it would have saved me hours of turmoil trying to understand the terminology and theory, because this text explains it all in a way that is easy to understand. Even now as a university lecturer this book, with its descriptions and exercises, makes for an extremely useful reference book for both myself and my students.
