Understanding Phonology (Understanding Language)

✍ Scribed by Carlos Gussenhoven, Haike Jacobs

• Publisher: Hodder Education Publishers
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 330
• Edition: 3
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This skillfully written text provides a broad, yet up-to-date, introduction to phonology. Assuming no previous knowledge of phonology or linguistic theory, the authors introduce the basic concepts and build on these progressively, discussing the main theories and illustrating key points with carefully chosen examples. A wide range of phenomena are covered: speech production, segmental contrasts, tone, quantity, prosodic structure, metrical relations and intonation. The main theories, including feature geometry and optimality theory are introduced, and their contributions to our understanding of phonology, as well as their shortcomings, are discussed objectively.This new edition has been updated and revised to meet the needs of today's students. Difficult points are given fuller explanation, references have been updated, and new exercises have been introduced to enable students to consolidate their learning.

✦ Table of Contents

Book title......Page 4
Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 10
The IPA chart......Page 11
1. Structures in languages......Page 12
2. The production of speech......Page 26
3. Some typology: sameness and difference......Page 45
4. Making the form fit......Page 56
5. Underlying and surface representations......Page 72
6. Distinctive features......Page 83
7. SPE. A case study: the diminutive suffix in Dutch......Page 103
8. Transparency and opacity with rules and constraints......Page 122
9. Levels of representation......Page 142
10. Representing tone......Page 158
11. Between the segment and the syllable......Page 173
12. Feature geometry......Page 196
13. Exploiting the feature tree......Page 209
14. Stress and feet......Page 225
15. Further constraining stress......Page 238
16. Phonology above the word......Page 257
Epilogue......Page 273
Key to questions......Page 275
References......Page 311
Language index......Page 322
D......Page 327
M......Page 328
S......Page 329
W......Page 330