Sociophonetics: An Introduction

by Erik Thomas

Sociophonetics – the interface of sociolinguistics and phonetics – is a field that has expanded rapidly in recent years. A subject that requires both methodological and theoretical assessment for study, sociophonetics has never before been presented in a way that ties these fundamental strands together so successfully.


This comprehensive and user friendly introduction seamlessly marries the dual cores of sociophonetics into one accessible text.

In a methodical and structured approach, Sociophonetics: An Introduction:

* Provides detailed analysis of phonetic variables, discussing consonants, vowels, prosody and voice quality
*  Includes clear and thorough explanations of how to measure linguistic phenomena and conduct acoustic analyses and perception experiments
* Contains almost 200 illustrations of phonetic processes and 'field marks' for the examination of sociolinguistic variables
* Covers a variety of theoretical approaches, including exemplar theory and cognitive sociolinguistics
* Examines, through theoretical issues, how sociolinguistics, phonetics and cognitive linguistics are linked

Thomas' innovative and friendly introduction to sociophonetics presents both a guide for advanced beginners as well as a basis for further development of professional research.

Genres: Linguistics

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2011

Reviews

[Emperador Spock · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book I did not expect it to be as good as it has turned out to be. Expecting a generic introduction into a discipline that had caught my eye, I did not even imagine that I would get a solid experiment- and practice-oriented guide into acoustic and auditory phonetics, with a flavour of how they could be, and indeed are, integrated into sociolinguistic research.

The book also provides a wealth of (sometimes fairly challenging) tasks, and definitely is a good text for a fledgling phonetician (like me) to enhance the practical knowledge of phonetics and find out how to use it to bring phonetics together with other disciplines.

[annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was throughly informative and engaging till the end. Thomas’s humor and passion for his work shines through even in the most densely packed sections of back to back information. Almost feels like sitting in his classroom during the more lighthearted sections. 5/5

Side Note: It had never been fully explained to me that taps and flaps were technically articulated differently while still sounding essentially the same. It had just been introduced to me as two names for the same motion, so that was a super fun fact for me.