24.3294, Review: Phonetics; Phonology: Zsiga (2013)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-24-3294. Fri Aug 16 2013. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 24.3294, Review: Phonetics; Phonology: Zsiga (2013)

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Reviews: Veronika Drake, U of Wisconsin Madison
Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin Madison
Rajiv Rao, U of Wisconsin Madison
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin Madison
Mateja Schuck, U of Wisconsin Madison
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin Madison
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Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 20:52:54
From: Avizia Long [aylong at indiana.edu]
Subject: The Sounds of Language

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-347.html

AUTHOR: Elizabeth C. Zsiga
TITLE: The Sounds of Language
SUBTITLE: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
SERIES TITLE: LAWZ - Linguistics in the World
PUBLISHER: Wiley-Blackwell
YEAR: 2013

REVIEWER: Avizia Long, Indiana University Bloomington

SUMMARY

The primary purpose of this book is to provide an introduction to the
linguistic study of phonetics and phonology. As it is an introductory text, it
is intended for undergraduate and beginning graduate students of linguistics,
regardless of their particular language(s) of study. A secondary (but equal)
purpose of this book is to serve as a pedagogical resource for instructors.

This book is comprehensive in terms of content, covering nearly all topics
related to phonetics and phonology over 20 chapters. It also contains
exercises and problem sets at the end of each chapter, along with references
for further reading and ancillary materials online
(http://www.wiley.com/go/zsiga). In the following paragraphs, I provide very
brief summaries of each chapter.

Chapter 1, “The Vocal Tract,” covers in detail all parts of the vocal tract as
well as the tools and methods researchers have used to see it. This material
is presented primarily in prose, with accompanying figures containing diagrams
of the different parts of the vocal tract discussed. Tools and methods
discussed include x-rays, ultrasound, and MRI, and photos resulting from the
use of each of these tools are included in figures.

Chapter 2, “Basics of Articulation: Manner and Place in English,” describes
how speech sounds are made and introduces phonetic transcription, with a focus
on English. Consonant sounds are covered first, followed by vowels. With
regard to the discussion of consonant sounds, the presentation of information
is divided by place and manner of articulation, following the arrangement of
the IPA chart. For both consonants and vowels, charts are included that
provide several examples of each English sound organized by phonetic symbol,
and additionally, by distribution (i.e. word initial, medial, or final
position) for consonants.
 
Chapter 3, “A Tour of the Consonants,” covers pulmonic and non-pulmonic
consonants cross-linguistically, and concludes with English positional
variation. The discussion of pulmonic consonants is divided into three
sections: (1) stops, nasals, and fricatives; (2) laterals, trills, taps, and
other approximants; and (3) contour and complex segments. Non-pulmonic
consonants are organized by implosives, ejectives, and clicks. Throughout this
chapter, several examples are provided, as well as photos demonstrating
pulmonic consonant sounds.

Chapter 4, “A Map of the Vowels,” first discusses how vowels and consonants
are related, and then covers how vowel systems are described across languages.
The text covers key dimensions of vowel quality, including height and
backness, rounding, and the tense/lax distinction. A discussion of nasality,
length, and tone are also included. Several examples are provided in several
languages, including French, Turkish, Vietnamese, and European Portuguese, as
well as an oral diagram and MRI image to exemplify tongue root position and
orality versus nasality, respectively.

Chapter 5, “Anatomy, Physiology, and Gestural Coordination,” covers the
anatomy and physiology of respiration and the vocal tract, introduces and
describes gestural coordination, and concludes with the purpose of and steps
for palatography. The author clearly guides the reader through anatomy and
physiology using a combination of images and instructions for the reader to
follow in order to better understand the process of respiration and the
functioning of the larynx and tongue. Coverage of gestural coordination is
brief, and mainly serves to demonstrate how the parts work as a whole. The
steps for palatography are detailed and accompanied by images so that the
reader may also try this on his/her own.

Chapter 6, “The Physics of Sound: Pendulums, Pebbles, and Waves,” defines
sound and covers the specifics of sound propagation, intensity, and resonance.
Key concepts covered include harmonic motion, complex waves, decibels, and
resonance. The chapter concludes with an introduction to Source-Filter Theory,
where the vocal tract is likened to a resonating system, so that the text may
transition to speech analysis (Chapter 7).

Chapter 7, “Looking at Speech: Waveforms, Spectra, and Spectrograms,” first
provides an overview of the tools and methods for conducting speech analysis,
both historically and currently. Tools include the kymograph (famously used by
Daniel Jones), sound spectrographs, and contemporary tools that digitize
speech. The second half of the chapter is dedicated to explaining the
composition of waveforms, spectra, and spectrograms. Several figures of
spectrograms are included throughout in order to exemplify English words
containing a diverse range of consonant sounds.

Chapter 8, “Speech Analysis: Under the Hood,” covers the “mathematics” of
sounds (including a discussion of sinusoid waves, harmonics, and basic
formulas for wavelength and frequency), as well as the “behind the scenes” of
speech analysis using a computer, including RMS amplitude and autocorrelation
pitch analysis.

Chapter 9, “Hearing and Speech Perception,” covers the anatomy and physiology
of the ear, neuro-anatomy, and relevant issues related to speech perception.
Presentation of material for the anatomy and physiology of the ear is very
detailed and includes several diagrams to present the same information
visually. Regarding neuro-anatomy, the author includes information on how the
brain has been studied, followed by parts of the brain that are fundamental to
speech perception (e.g. auditory nerve, cochlear nuclei, etc.). Issues related
to speech perception discussed in this chapter include non-linearity (i.e.
non-linear mapping from acoustics to perception), inherent variability in
speech production, and cue integration.

Chapter 10, “Phonology 1: Abstraction, Contrast, Predictability,” discusses
why abstraction is necessary for the study of sound patterns, as well as
historical and current methods for phonemic analysis, including Structuralism
and Behaviorism.

Chapter 11, “Phonotactics and Alternations,” covers phonotactic constraints as
well as the types of alternations present across languages at the segmental
level. The discussion of phonotactic constraints is tied into theoretical
perspectives (generative and psycholinguistic) of what it means to know a
language, and also covers borrowings. Alternations discussed include
assimilation, dissimilation, lenition, debuccalization, fortition, and several
others (see p. 233 for a complete list with definitions and examples,
cross-linguistically). Several examples are provided throughout in several
different languages.

Chapter 12, “What is a Possible Language? Distinctive Features,” provides a
detailed overview and background of formalism, highlighting how distinctive
features (i.e. discrete characteristics that distinguish classes of sounds)
fit into respective analyses. These features are organized by manner,
laryngeal, and place distinctions for consonants, and by tongue and lip
articulation for vowels. Several examples are provided throughout, as well as
several charts to visually represent different combinations of distinctive
features covered in the text.

Chapter 13, “Rules and Derivations in Generative Grammar,” introduces
generative grammars and the notion of underlying and surface representations.
It also provides several examples of how to write rules using the notation
found in ‘The Sound Pattern of English’ (i.e. SPE notation, Chomsky & Halle,
1968). This chapter also introduces autosegmental representations and Feature
Geometry. Several example analyses are presented and explained, which are
helpful for viewing how to use the associated notation.

Chapter 14, “Constraint-based phonology,” introduces Optimality Theory (OT)
(Prince & Smolensky, 1993/2004) and walks the reader through several exercises
employing OT analysis at the segmental level. The exercises are presented
visually and explained thoroughly, and reflect a wide range of languages.

Chapter 15, “Syllables and Prosodic Domains,” introduces suprasegmental
aspects of speech, focusing on the syllable, word, and phrase levels. All
information is accompanied by several diagrams and examples in a variety of
languages.

Chapter 16, “Stress,” introduces the notion of linguistic stress and discusses
respective correlates cross-linguistically, including length, pitch, loudness,
and clarity of articulation. The last half of this chapter focuses on stress
in English, dividing the discussion by nouns, verbs and adjectives, and words
with affixes.

Chapter 17, “Tone and Intonation,” is the last chapter dedicated to
suprasegmental phonology, and provides an overview of tonal and intonational
representations and tonal alternations across languages. The discussion of
tonal alternations is organized geographically (the Americas, Africa, and
Asia), and several examples and figures are included to exemplify key concepts
discussed. The chapter concludes by defining intonation and introducing the
notation used to describe intonational contours.

Chapter 18, “Diachronic Change,” discusses language change and uses the
example of Proto-Indo-European to cover historical reconstruction. The
discussion of language change includes causes and effects of change, as well
as types of change evidenced in English (e.g. lenition, fortition, epenthesis,
etc.). The changes evidenced in English are exemplified through four versions
of a biblical text.

Chapter 19, “Variation,” primarily covers variation in the English language by
geographic location (North America, England, Australia, New Zealand, and South
Africa) and introduces frameworks that examine linguistic variation (e.g.
variable rules from sociolinguistics and Stochastic OT). Key concepts relevant
to variation presented in this chapter include dialect, register,
socioeconomic class, ethnicity, gender, and identity.

Chapter 20, “Acquisition and Learning,” covers first language and second
language acquisition, exploring topics related to the context of learning,
production, perception, and current theoretical frameworks. Tools and methods
for analysis are included and discussed, including contemporary
psycholinguistic methods, such as event-related potentials (ERPs). Second
language perception and production are covered using studies examining the
learning of a wide variety of languages.

EVALUATION

This book provides an updated introduction to the linguistic study of
phonetics and phonology. The author indicates in the preface to the book that
it is intended to serve as an introductory text for undergraduate and/or
beginning graduate phonetics and/or phonology classes. To that end, this book
meets the goal of serving as an introductory text on several counts. First,
the presentation of all content is very approachable, with language that is
suitable for a true beginner to phonetics and phonology. This is a
particularly strong point of this book, given that original sources covering
theory (e.g. Chomsky & Halle, 1968; Prince & Smolensky, 1993/2004) are not
necessarily approachable for a beginning student. This book also meets the
goal of serving as an introductory text by offering several ancillary
resources both inside and outside of the text. As indicated in the summary
above, at the end of each chapter are references for further reading and
several exercises that do not appear in other texts. Additionally, more
exercises are provided for each chapter on the companion site available
through the publisher. Lastly, regarding the goal of this book, examples are
offered for all content in several languages. This is another strong point of
the book, and further allows readers to observe firsthand how the theoretical
frameworks covered are applied across typologically distinct languages.
Overall, this book accomplishes the goal of serving as an introductory text,
and would serve as an excellent companion to other texts that focus on
specific languages (e.g. ‘The Sounds of Spanish,’ Hualde, 2005 and books
within that series). Although it is directed toward instructors of phonetics
and phonology, it may also serve as a resource for instructors of introductory
linguistics courses who often incorporate a phonetics and/or phonology
component into their program of studies.

Another strength of this book is the coherent presentation of theory (once
presented) throughout. This is first evident in the preface to the book, where
the author presents student readers with several questions to consider while
reading the text. These questions challenge student readers to think not only
about what sounds are, but also how sounds fit together more broadly into the
act of communication, and more generally “what phonetics and phonology is all
about.”  Phonetics and phonology are treated separately throughout the text,
while areas of overlap are discussed. Once relevant frameworks are introduced,
they are continually referenced where applicable throughout the text. For
example, the chapters covering rule-based (Chapter 13) and constraint-based
phonology (Chapter 14) are not only applied to segmental phonology, but also
suprasegmental phonology. Similarly, areas of overlap between constraint-based
phonology and variation are covered in the chapter on variation (Chapter 19).
These are only a couple of examples of how the content of the text --
particularly, relevant theoretical frameworks -- is coherently interrelated
throughout.

Although the text has a primarily introductory purpose, the author provides a
clear sense of remaining challenges related to the study of phonetics and
phonology and often indicates “where we stand” theoretically and empirically.
This is another aspect of this book that makes it a strong introductory text -
it aids the beginning reader in making connections and understanding where
theoretical perspectives converge and diverge. It also shows how the study of
phonetics and phonology has been applied to other fields of linguistics,
including language acquisition, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics.
These connections and applications are evident throughout each chapter of the
second half of the book, and are useful for beginning readers.

A final note related to the intended use of the text is the author’s
explanation of how to use the text for instruction. I found this information
particularly useful in that it can guide instructors on the core readings for
a one-semester or two-semester phonetics and/or phonology course.

Overall, this book represents a strong introductory text to the study of
phonetics and phonology in a classroom setting. I believe the most compelling
aspect of the text is the quantity and quality of information included --
there is as little or as much content as an instructor may need in order to
provide a resource for beginning or advanced students, and all information is
presented in a coherent, approachable manner. This is particularly the case
for the first four chapters and those chapters covering theory. I believe this
text can stand on its own in a course dedicated to the study of phonetics
and/or phonology or certain chapters can be easily adopted in courses that may
only touch on phonetics and/or phonology (or aspects of this field of study)
for a few weeks.

REFERENCES

Chomsky, Noam and Halle, Morris. 1968. The Sound Pattern of English. New York:
Harper and Row.

Prince, Alan and Smolensky, Paul. 2004[1993]. Optimality Theory: Constraint
Interaction in Generative Grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hualde, José Ignacio. 2005. The Sounds of Spanish. New York: Cambridge
University Press.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Avizia Yim Long is a PhD student of Hispanic Linguistics at Indiana
University. Her research interests include second language acquisition,
sociolinguistics, and phonetics and phonology.








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