The Sounds of Language

The fully updated, new edition of the bestselling introduction to phonetics and phonology
In The Sounds of Language, Elizabeth C. Zsiga presents a uniquely broad and balanced introduction to the theory and practice of phonetics and phonology. This bestselling textbook covers the concepts, theories, history, and intersections of these two major branches of linguistics, and provides a comprehensive introduction to both the physical and cognitive aspects of speech sounds.
With a flexible modular structure, The Sounds of Language offers instructors the freedom to easily choose, re-order, combine, or skip sections to meet the needs of their classrooms. Twenty-four concise chapters, organized into six sections that each focus on a particular sub-discipline, cover a wide range of topics in phonetics and phonology, from the basics of articulation to models of sociolinguistic variation.
Each chapter includes problem sets that allow students to practice data analysis and hypothesis testing, practical advice on collecting and analysing various types of linguistic data, real-world examples of phonetic and phonological phenomena, and more.
The second edition features new examples, new problem sets and exercises, and three entirely new chapters on Sound Structure and Word Structure, Lexical Phonology, and Variation and Probability in Phonological Theory. Revised and expanded chapters address topics such as child language acquisition, adult language learning, and new theoretical developments in the field. This edition includes access to an updated companion website with additional exercises, sound files, and other supporting resources.
Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Second Edition, is the perfect textbook for classes on phonology and phonetics, as well as related courses in linguistics, applied linguistics, speech science, language acquisition, and cognitive science programs.

ELIZABETH C. ZSIGA is Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University, where she has taught undergraduate and graduate students since 1994. Her research focuses on the sound systems of diverse languages and the intersections between phonetics and phonology. She is the author of The Phonology/Phonetics Interface and has published widely in leading scholarly journals.