Includes bibliographical references and index.

Phonetics and language -- Phonetic transcription -- Anatomy and physiology of speech -- Air pressure and aerodynamics -- Consonants -- Vowels -- Sounds of North American English -- Voice, phonation, and nasality -- Airstream mechanisms: clicks, implosives, ejectives, esophageal speech -- Speech dynamics -- Suprasegmentals -- Acoustics -- Interlocutors: talkers and hearers.

"Written in a clear, approachable way, this textbook provides an introduction to the science of phonetics: how speech sounds are produced, how we classify them, and how they are processed to allow the rapid transmission of language-based messages. Comprehensive yet accessible, it is ideal for a beginner to the field"--