Phonetics For Dummies

Learn to: Understand the science behind speech Grasp real-world applications of phonetics Transcribe speech using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Perform well in your phonetics course The clear and easy way to understand the science behind speech! This detailed guide helps you comprehend the process of how speech is produced, how to transcribe speech using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), how to read a sound spectrogram, and so much more. Written in plain English, and accompanied by dozens of helpful illustrations and a free online resource, this is your go-to guide to the fascinating world of phonetics! Start with Phonetics 101 — understand the basics of speech, fixed and movable articulators, and speech sound classifications Meet your "secret code" — find out how to use the IPA to transcribe speech Get a primer on speech acoustics — explore the fundamental frequency of phonation, harmonics, and formant frequencies Delve into practical transcribing situations — become familiar with how to transcribe accents, dialects, children's speech, and disordered speech Learn the real-world applications of phonetics — discover the role phonetics plays in speech language pathology, audiology, language teaching, forensics, telecommunications, acting, voice coaching, and more Open the book and find: The fundamentals of phonetics and phonology How speech is produced Tips on reading a sound spectrogram How to understand the melody of language Ways to transcribe emotion in speech How to avoid ten common mistakes beginner transcribers make Practical experience transcribing vowels, consonants, and phonological processes with the online resource

Introduction  1 Part I: Getting Started with Phonetics  7 Chapter 1: Understanding the A–B–Cs of Phonetics 9 Chapter 2: The Lowdown on the Science of Speech Sounds 15 Chapter 3: Meeting the IPA: Your New Secret Code 37 Chapter 4: Producing Speech: The How–To 51 Chapter 5: Classifying Speech Sounds: Your Gateway to Phonology 73 Part II: Speculating about English Speech Sounds  91 Chapter 6: Sounding Out English Consonants 93 Chapter 7: Sounding Out English Vowels 107 Chapter 8: Getting Narrow with Phonology 123 Chapter 9: Perusing the Phonological Rules of English 131 Chapter 10: Grasping the Melody of Language 145 Chapter 11: Marking Melody in Your Transcription 157 Part III: Having a Blast: Sound, Waveforms, and Speech Movement  169 Chapter 12: Making Waves: An Overview of Sound 171 Chapter 13: Reading a Sound Spectrogram 191 Chapter 14: Confi rming That You Just Said What I Thought You Said 219 Part IV: Going Global with Phonetics  235 Chapter 15: Exploring Different Speech Sources 237 Chapter 16: Visiting Other Places, Other Manners 253 Chapter 17: Coming from the Mouths of Babes 277 Chapter 18: Accentuating Accents 291 Chapter 19: Working with Broken Speech 315 Part V: The Part of Tens  333 Chapter 20: Ten Common Mistakes That Beginning Phoneticians Make and How to Avoid Them 335 Chapter 21: Debunking Ten Myths about Various English Accents 341 Index  347

William F. Katz, PhD, is Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he teaches and directs research in linguistics, speech science, and language disorders. He has pioneered new treatments for speech loss after stroke, and he studies an unusual disorder known as "foreign accent syndrome."