Free eBooks A Course In Phonetics Available To Downloads
Master linguistics with A COURSE IN PHONETICS with accompanying CD-ROM! The hallmark text for the study of linguistics, A COURSE IN PHONETICS provides a broad overview of the branches of phonetics for students with no prior knowledge. Practicing what you have learned is easy with the CD-ROM that contains more than 4,000 audio files, including recordings of speech from southern and northern U.S. cities, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, New Zealand, other forms of English, and scores of other languages.
Paperback: 310 pages
Publisher: Cengage Learning; 5 edition (June 24, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1413006884
ISBN-13: 978-1413006889
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #95,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #39 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Phonetics & Phonics #119 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Linguistics #227 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Linguistics
"A Course in Phonetics" is the best book available on introductory Phonetics, and I recommend it whole-heartedly for every Linguistics student, but not necessarily for those with a general interest in Linguistics and languages. What I found to be especially useful are the sections of exercises at the end of each chapter to test what you've learned. The exercises are very well designed; however, the one drawback is that the book contains no answer key (that can only be found in the professor's copy).The sections on Articulatory Phonetics (how our mouths, teeth, and tongues interact to make sounds) and Phonetic transcription,which uses current standard IPA symbols,are particularly good. On that note, what I find lacking in the book is coverage of languages other than English. If you're interested in further information on transcribing in IPA in 29 major languages, I strongly recommend "Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the I!nternational Phonetic Alphabet." Also, the section on Acoustic Phonetics was a bit overwhelming for anyone in my class who didn't have any background in Physics.Still, the book's strength is the depth it goes into, taking into account that this is an introductory book. Every major concept in Phonetics is touched upon, and Ladefoged makes particularly good use of tables and diagrammes to help the reader.(Note 7/2001: When I wrote this review, this was the most current edition. However, the 5th edition was published in 2000, and I haven't reviewed that yet, but you might want to check it out.)
Phonetics is a notoriously technical discipline, and most books on the subject will make the beginner's head spin. Ladefoged's "A Course in Phonetics" is not one of those books. I believe this is the best introductory book to phonetics available. It's easy to read and he doesn't overload the reader with lots of technical terms. He uses simple plain English to describe phenomena that takes other writers half a dictionary to describe. The concepts aren't watered down, so this is the perfect introduction to phonetics. If you're doing serious research into phonetics and you've already taken a course in phonetics, this may be a little basic for you, but I can recommend it to everyone else.
Peter Ladefoged's Course in Phonetics covers the so-called science of speech (according to Professor Higgins)in every respect. Unlike many other texts on the field, this is no only meant to describe the phonological system of a language in particular or give you some background on general phonetics. This book really teaches you to become a phonetician! This is not just because of Ladefoged's imcomparable background in phonetics and physics (what a great scientist!), but also because Ladeofged himself acts like a motivator as he passes his own passion to the readers.The interactive CD is awesome. You will be able to listen to the XX century's leading English phonetician Daniel Jones making his own cardinal vowels. There is also an invaluable x-ray short movie of different articulations, and believe me! It is really illuminating to have the chance to see that rather than beautifully designed drawings. Ladefoged himself will teach you by dictating and pronouncing a great number of words, nonsense, English and other languages.I really recommend this book to whoever is interested or passionate about this discipline. Even though Prof. Ladefoged is not here with us anymore, this is an excellent - and for many of us the only one - chance to be taught by one of the greatest.
As it has been already noted, Ladefoged's work is excellent in every respect! However, a prospective buyer of this book should bear in mind that, although it's NOT so modestly priced, the printing and binding quality for this edition (4th edition, 2001, Heinle & Heinle) is very low. The covers and the paper are so thin, it's almost imposible to read from the book while holding it with one hand only. It feels almost like a vacuum cleaner manual, which is really a shame. This kind of book obviously deserves a better publisher.
As a linguistics student at UCSB, I must say that this has been one of the better textbooks that I've had. It is incredibly clear in explaining all the concepts and terminology of phonetics. Additionally, as someone who usually hates textbook material, the fact that this is concise, easy to read AND follow makes a better course for the phonetics class that you are taking.
A really excellent book that gives the maximum information in the minimum space and is packed with relevant examples. We have used it extensively with a range of people who have been working in speech synthesis and speech analysis, all have found it, not only useful, but really interesting. A genuine five star book.
This book is pedagogically one of the best texts I've readon any subject. It is an excellent, clear overview of the field,together with many interesting tidbits and insights into our own (English)language. The explanations of how to make unfamiliar sounds is clear enough that I could understand even without a recording. The author supports his viewpoints with acoustic research without getting bogged down. Highly recommended.
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