Acoustic Phonetics

by Kenneth N. Stevens

Overview

This book presents a theory of speech-sound generation in the human vocal system.

This book presents a theory of speech-sound generation in the human vocal system. The comprehensive acoustic theory serves as one basis for defining categories of speech sounds used to form distinctions between words in languages. The author begins with a review of the anatomy and physiology of speech production, then covers source mechanisms, the vocal tract as an acoustic filter, relevant aspects of auditory psychophysics and physiology, and phonological representations. In the remaining chapters he presents a detailed examination of vowels, consonants, and the influence of context on speech-sound production. Although he focuses mainly on the sounds of English, he touches briefly on sounds in other languages.

The book will serve as a reference for speech scientists, speech pathologists, linguists interested in phonetics and phonology, psychologists interested in speech perception and production, and engineers concerned with speech processing applications.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262692502
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	07/24/2000
Series:	Current Studies in Linguistics , #30
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	618
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.40(d)

Table of Contents

Preface
1 Anatomy and Physiology of Speech Production
2 Source Mechanisms
3 Basic Acoustics of Vocal Tract Resonators
4 Auditory Processing of Speechlike Sounds
5 Phonological Representation of Utterances
6 Vowels: Acoustic Events with a Relatively Open Vocal
Tract
7 The Basic Stop Consonants: Bursts and Formant Transitions
8 Obstruent Consonants
9 Sonorant Consonants
10 Some Influences of Context on Speech Sound Production
Notes
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Patricia Keating

This book, the product of Stevens's many years as a renowned teacher and researcher, is a landmark presentation of the source-filter theory of speech production. As a textbook, it is unique in its depth and breadth. The firm basis in phonetic sound classes should make the material accessible to linguists, while the use of quantitative models should make it accessible to engineers. As a reference work, it offers something new on every page.

John Clark

This a landmark work of scholarship in phonetics. The depth and the comprehensive coverage of the acoustics of speech that it provides will make it an indispensable reference work for researchers and graduate students in the field well into the next century.

Louis C.W. Pols

A lifetime of knowledge and experience is bundled in this impressive book of the ESCA-1995 medalist Ken Stevens. All readers of this book will finally have the opportunity to share his detailed description of the production, the acoustics, and the perception of speech segments.

From the Publisher

"Whenever anybody — linguist, speech pathologist, or communication engineer — wants to know why the acoustic structure of a particular sound is as it is, this is the book to which they will turn. There is absolutely no other book with anything like this depth of coverage." PeterLadefoged, Professor of Phonetics Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles

Peter Ladefoged

Peter Ladefoged, Professor of Phonetics Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles

Whenever anybody -- linguist, speech pathologist, or communication engineer -- wants to know why the acoustic structure of a particular sound is as it is, this is the book to which they will turn. There is absolutely no other book with anything like this depth of coverage.

Endorsement

Whenever anybody—linguist, speech pathologist, or communication engineer—wants to know why the acoustic structure of a particular sound is as it is, this is the book to which they will turn. There is absolutely no other book with anything like this depth of coverage.

—Peter Ladefoged, Professor of Phonetics Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles