32.1818, Review: Phonetics: Munro (2020)

Tue May 25 03:35:33 UTC 2021

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-1818. Mon May 24 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.1818, Review: Phonetics: Munro (2020)

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Date: Mon, 24 May 2021 23:34:29
From: Janine Strandberg [j.a.e.strandberg at rug.nl]
Subject: Applying Phonetics

Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36684677

Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-3919.html

AUTHOR: Murray J. Munro
TITLE: Applying Phonetics
SUBTITLE: Speech Science in Everyday Life
SERIES TITLE: Linguistics in the World
PUBLISHER: Wiley
YEAR: 2020

REVIEWER: Janine A. E. Strandberg, University of Groningen

SUMMARY

Applying Phonetics: Speech Science in Everyday Life by Murray J. Munro (2020)
provides a thorough introduction to the field of phonetics, as well as
practical applications in speech science. In essence, it is a textbook which,
according to the author himself, is designed to “appeal to students with
little or no background in linguistics or phonetics” (p. xii). At the end of
each chapter, suggested exercises alongside recommendations for further
reading and analysis are included.  Additionally, the book links to a
companion website with supplementary material, primarily external sources and
potential answers for the exercises within the book.  

The book is divided into three separate parts, out of which the first two
constitute an introduction to phonetics and associated fields in linguistics.
Part I, titled What is Speech? comprises five chapters, providing the reader
with an essential overview of phonetics. The first chapter places human
language in the context of sounds produced by other animals, while also
briefly discussing non-linguistic communication by animals and humans alike.
In Chapter 2, the reader is provided with explanations of the structures and
functions of the vocal apparatus and their roles in the production of speech.
The third chapter introduces phonetic transcription, focusing on the
International Phonetic Alphabet but also mentioning other transcription
systems used by speech technologists. The fourth chapter discusses the
categorisation of speech sounds, describing the concepts of manner and place
of articulation as well as voicing for consonants, and tongue and lip
configuration for vowels. As the final chapter of Part I, Chapter 5 briefly
focuses on prosody, explaining the struggle of defining what a syllable is and
familiarising the reader with the concepts of stress, rhythm, and intonation. 

The second part of the book, Part II: Speech as a Human Phenomenon, consists
of three chapters, the first of which, Chapter 6, highlights some of the
findings and controversies within evolutionary linguistics. Chapter 7 examines
speech across the lifespan, from fetal exposure to the human voice to the
effects of old age on speech. In the eighth chapter, speech disorders and
dysfunctions are examined, with specific focus on stuttering, laryngectomy,
and aphasias.  

Part III: Applying Phonetics examines various applications of phonetics,
making up over half of the book with a total of seven chapters. Chapter 9
examines speech synthesis, advancing from its inception in the 1700s to the
Text-To-Speech (TTS) systems available today. The following chapter, Chapter
10, gives an overview of the challenges of forensic speech science. Chapter 11
discusses second language (L2) accents and pronunciation in L2 instruction,
while Chapter 12 examines accent training for actors and vocalists. Presenting
further applications of speech in the context of the arts, Chapter 13 focuses
on speech in animation, ventriloquism, and constructed languages. Chapter 14
examines phonetics in the business world, covering automatic speech
recognition, the VOCODER and its use for voice manipulation, as well as speech
in branding and marketing. The final chapter tackles ethical issues within
phonetics, highlighting the problematic term ‘voiceprint’ and explaining the
concept of vocal stress analysis, as well as briefly mentioning potential
drawbacks of speech synthesis in relation to deepfakes and the challenges of
accent discrimination. 

EVALUATION

Munro’s Applying Phonetics (2020) is a very comprehensive and approachable
introduction to the world of phonetics, packed into what seems like a succinct
book of 240 pages. Starting from the fundamentals of defining communication in
Chapter 1, the book progresses through the ways in which speech is produced,
how it is segmented, how it changes across the lifespan, how it may be
affected by speech disorders, and finally, to different ways in which we can
apply knowledge about phonetics and speech science to different aspects of our
lives. The language of the book is very accessible, and, as no background
knowledge of linguistics is required, the book is a very appropriate textbook
for students in phonetics. Chapters 2 and 4, which describe the human vocal
tract and the production of speech sounds, respectively, are particularly
impressive in the level of detail they provide without being intimidating to
the reader. Chapter 2 dissects the processes of pulmonary ventilation,
phonation, and articulation in a simple, yet exhaustive, fashion, while
Chapter 4 allows the reader to work through the intricacies of consonant and
vowel production in a more practical way than theoretical books can usually
accomplish. 

It is interesting then, given the extraordinary dedication given to providing
the fundamentals of phonetics in such an approachable way, that the focus of
the book has been placed mainly on Part III. Undeniably, it is very refreshing
to read an introduction to the field that also incorporates ways in which
phonetic theory can be applied to everyday life, including forensic speech
science, speech synthesis, or accent coaching, However, although Part III does
make up half the total length of the book, and these chapters provide
interesting overviews of various applications of speech science, some of the
sections included are too brief to give sufficient information about the topic
they introduce. For example, the problematic concepts of accent reduction and
discrimination based on accent, which would certainly warrant considerable
discussion, are condensed into a single page in Chapter 15 (p. 192). Part III
of the book also includes some unusual choices in structure, such as only
including mentions of dialects and regional variation in Chapter 12, Section
1: Accents for Actors. Consequently, while the book in its entirety comes
across as a great theoretical introduction to phonetics, the chapters in Part
III tend to be the least consistent. As such, it is curious that the title of
the book places sole emphasis on Part III: Applying Phonetics.  

The companion website is promoted as an additional feature of the book, but it
does not provide a great deal of supplementary material. The single webpage
with additional resources contains seven downloadable audio files (such as
examples of creaky voice and synthetic speech), alongside a text file with
suggested answers for the exercises and a few links to external resources.
While this material may be convenient for some readers, the book is arguably
just as useful without the companion site. 

An important factor to point out is the relative emphasis on the English
language and the English-speaking world. This approach is by no means unique
to this book, as a vast number of other introductions to phonetics have to
varying degrees focused specifically on English (e.g., Rogers, 2000; Knight,
2012; Ladefoged & Johnson, 2014). The reader may, to an extent, presume that a
book written in English would focus on the English language; however, nothing
in the name of this book, its description on the publisher’s website, or the
foreword by the author insinuate that the book would be mainly concerned with
English phonetics. Yet, the majority of examples ranging from vowel and
consonant production to variation are based on English, and the book includes
an appendix on North American English vowels and consonants. Although this
focus is to a degree understandable, given that the expertise of the author is
based on exceptional knowledge of specifically English phonetics, it is
unfortunate that in most cases the non-English examples that are included seem
to have been added as an afterthought. 

Regarding language use, the wording is accessible and clearly intended to be
straightforward and informative, which is very appropriate for a student
textbook. However, lecturers assigning the book should be aware that the
author exclusively uses phonetic terminology typical for North America without
acknowledging that there may be alternative terms for certain concepts.
Specifically, with regards to high versus low vowels, no mention is made of
the fact these are also often referred to as close and open vowels (p. 36);
for beginners in phonetics, this omission could potentially lead to confusion
when students encounter articles not using North American terminology.  

Despite the minor shortcomings detailed above, Applying Phonetics is not only
one of the most informative introductions to phonetics that I have
encountered, it is certainly also one of the most approachable. Although a few
sections in Part III have some limitations, these chapters nevertheless
deliver on their promise to provide a unique and fascinating overview of the
ways in which phonetics can be applied to different aspects of everyday life.
Yet, while the name of the book indicates that the focus is on the third part
on applying speech science, I believe the main asset of the book lies in the
first half of it; these chapters contain a great wealth of information about
phonetic theory, described in meticulous detail but delivered in a simple and
accessible way. The author’s passion for speech science and the fact that the
content was first conceived as a university course are both discernible in the
excellent explanations and relatable examples provided. I would not hesitate
to recommend this book as a textbook for beginners in phonetics, whether they
are undergraduate students or other interested parties.

REFERENCES

Knight, Rachael-Anne (2012). Phonetics: A Coursebook. Cambridge University
Press. 

Ladefoged, Peter & Johnson, Keith (2014). A Course in Phonetics. 7th Edition.
Cengage Learning.

Rogers, Henry (2000). The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics.
Routledge.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Janine A. E. Strandberg is a doctoral candidate in Theoretical and Empirical
Linguistics at the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) at the
University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Combining approaches from
sociolinguistic and bilingual transfer research in the context of minority and
heritage languages, her doctoral research project focuses on phonetic and
lexical variation in the Finland-Swedish variety. She is also interested in
language policy, the sociolinguistics of globalization, and linguistic
landscape research.

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