Since the first edition was published in 1954, this outstanding work has consistently served as a comprehensive yet easy-to-follow guidebook to general American phonetics. Included are chapters dealing with the transcription of on-going speech, narrow transcription, normal and deviant allophones and information on how speech sounds are produced, as well as an examination of the linguistic principles that have come to play a prominent role in modern speech pathology. The application of phonemics and phonetics to the understanding of the problems of deviant speech and language, foreign accent, and dialect enhance reader comprehension in these areas.
This book deals with the pronunciation of English in the United States, and is designed primarily for elementary courses in phonetics. It should also be useful in courses dealing with the improvement or correction of voice and speech. Chapters 21 to 23 should be useful in an advanced course in linguistic geography.
Two principles underlie the presentation of the subject matter. One is that the distinctive sound unit, or phoneme, as discussed in Chapter 1, is basic to our understanding of speech. English, like any other language; rests on basic phonemic patterns, but not all varieties of English use exactly the same pattern.
The title Applied Phonetics has been given to this book to suggest its main intent: to apply phonetic symbols and nomenclature to the description of the principal varieties of the English language in America and the British Isles. Actually, the name is not entirely accurate in respect to the first part of the book, where phonetic modes of thought and phonetic symbols are given preliminary presentation .without specific application.
A brief but authoritative introduction to phonetics by Misterduncan. He is an English teacher born in the UK, who has produced numerous instructive videos for English learners and teachers.
