Practical English Phonetics and Phonology

Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students. Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses and commentaries.

Revised and updated throughout, this fifth edition of Practical English Phonetics and Phonology:

• treats British and American English side by side throughout the book, which is new to this edition;
• presents the essentials of the subject and their day-to-day applications in an engaging and accessible manner;
• covers all the core concepts of phonetics and phonology, such as the phoneme, syllable structure, production of speech, vowel and consonant possibilities, glottal settings, stress, weak forms, rhythm, intonation and the surprises of connected speech;
• gives descriptions of the sound systems of Spanish, Italian, French, German, Polish and Japanese;
• includes a glossary of key terms and new exercises, diagrams and updated references;
• is accompanied by an updated companion website which hosts a collection of samples provided by genuine speakers of 25 accent varieties from Britain, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore and West Africa, as well as answer keys and numerous recordings to accompany activities in the book.

Written by authors who are experienced teachers and researchers, this bestselling textbook will appeal to all students of English language and linguistics and those training for a certificate in TEFL.

Praise for the fifth edition:

“This book offers a comprehensive overview of standard British and American English pronunciation, with detailed segmental and supra-segmental descriptions. Furthermore, it provides a concise overview of the various accent varieties. It is an invaluable resource for anyone engaged in the process of learning English.”

Hiroshi Miura, Senshu University, Japan

Praise for the fourth edition:

“This book cleverly combines the details of English phonetics with a first look at sounds in other languages. Its real strengths are the exercises provided at every step of the way and its brief but unequalled survey of accents of English (using recordings on the companion website). It will remain the best all-round introduction to phonetics.”

Alan Cruttenden, The University of Oxford, UK

“This classic text just keeps getting better. It is one of very few books that I keep constantly at my side as I author my own materials. It is rich in information, clearly written and easy to read. Most importantly, it is accompanied by audio recordings which exemplify the points made.”

Richard Cauldwell, Speech in Action

Paul Carley has held posts at the University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, and the universities of Bedfordshire and Leicester. He has been a regular lecturer on the UCL Summer Course in English Phonetics.

Inger M. Mees is Associate Professor Emerita at the Copenhagen Business School and a part-time lecturer at Copenhagen University. She has formerly held lectureships at the universities of Leiden and Copenhagen.

Beverley Collins (1938–2014) held lectureships in phonetics at the universities of Lancaster and Leiden, and was Visiting Professor at Ghent University. He was also a regular lecturer at the UCL Summer Course in English Phonetics.

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