Ebook: Phonology from the ground up: The basics

An understanding of phonological analysis has been considered a basic part of education and training in linguistics for nearly a century. This book attempts to provide detailed information on one important part of this field of study. This kind of training is useful for anyone who is teaching language because it is so foundational. It is useful for native speakers who are thinking about their own languages as well as for outsiders who are attempting to analyze (or reanalyze) a language. It is useful for people who are working only in a classroom situation as well as for those who are “on the field,” for those who are teaching as well as for those who are publishing results of their investigation. This training provides a broad understanding that is important for consultants and editors. It is considered foundational for anyone who is looking at the linguistic factors that are relevant for the development of a writing system (orthography) for an unwritten language or for evaluating existing or proposed systems. Various chapters include short exercises that are an integral part of them. The reader should do them at that point (or after having read the whole chapter), write out an explicit answer, and then see the discussion in the appendix indicated to compare his or her answer with the one given there.