“This book covers the scientific study of speech sounds in impressive breadth and depth. There is enough material here for two sophisticated courses or a solid one-semester introduction to both phonetics and phonology. The writing style should please both instructors and students.” – Maria Gouskova, New York University
“Thoroughly accessible, and filled with illuminating examples and exercises for students, The Sounds of Language is a comprehensive and stimulating introduction to both phonetics and phonology.” – Andrew Smith, University of Stirling
The Sounds of Language is an introductory guide to the linguistic study of speech sounds, giving equal weight to both phonology and phonetics. Integrating these two disciplines allows students to appreciate the relationship of phonology and phonetics to each other, and to identify areas of overlap and mutual concern.
Theoretically grounded, the book explores the range of data that any theory must account for, and discusses important concepts and constructs that emerge from the data, such as the interacting roles of biology and cognition in creating sound inventories, perception as distinct from hearing, contrast, alternation, and markedness. Zsiga presents a critical overview of different approaches that have been used in tackling these issues, with opportunities for students to practice data analysis and hypothesis testing. Data on sociolinguistic variation, first language acquisition, and second language learning are integrated throughout the text, along with valuable exercises, problem sets, and online data and sound files.
From the Back Cover
The Sounds of Language is an introductory guide to the linguistic study of speech sounds, giving equal weight to both phonology and phonetics. Integrating these two disciplines allows students to appreciate the relationship of phonology and phonetics to each other, and to identify areas of overlap and mutual concern.
Theoretically grounded, the book explores the range of data that any theory must account for, and discusses important concepts and constructs that emerge from the data, such as the interacting roles of biology and cognition in creating sound inventories, perception as distinct from hearing, contrast, alternation, and markedness. Zsiga presents a critical overview of different approaches that have been used in tackling these issues, with opportunities for students to practice data analysis and hypothesis testing. Data on sociolinguistic variation, first language acquisition, and second language learning are integrated throughout the text, along with valuable exercises, problem sets, and online data and sound files.
About the Author
Elizabeth C. Zsiga is Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, where she has been a faculty member since 1994, teaching phonology and phonetics to both graduate and undergraduate students, with concentrations in theoretical, applied, and socio-linguistics. She has been published in numerous linguistics journals and books. Her research describes the sound systems of diverse languages including English, Igbo, Korean, Russian, Setswana, Serbian, and Thai.
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