Understanding Phonology (Understanding Language Series)

This text provides a broad yet up-to-date introduction to phonology. Assuming no previous knowledge of phonology or linguistic theory, the authors introduce the basic concepts and build on these progressively, discussing the main theories and illustrating key points with carefully chosen examples. The book covers a wide range of phenomena, including speech production, segmental contrasts, tone, quantity, prosodic structure, metrical relations, and intonation, as well as such key theories as feature geometry and Optimality Theory.