Ebook: An introduction to phonological analysis

This is a book used to train students for field work in various places across the world, at Summer Institute of Linguistics. Many native-American languages are included too.


The presentation of material in this book is different from many other books. Most importantly for those who are studying phonology in order to do field work, it does not present theory in the same order that one might apply theory. We know that not everyone approaches problems in the same way or in the same order. The book does not begin with the same kind of facts that usually first confront a linguist in a field situation. Nevertheless, after one has completed reading the book, one should have a clear idea of how to work in such situations.


One of the major reasons for presenting material in the order chosen is that it allows us to present phonological detail in small steps. Many introductory books begin with phonetics and then lead the user through the morass of detail to graphically simpler levels of representation. But since many students are not well-trained in phonetics at the time when they take their first phonology course—or at least could use some review—we have opted to teach simple but not necessarily phonetic processes early in the course and postpone discussions of phonetic detail until after the general principles of phonological description and analysis are understood. Of course, this means that careful attention must be paid to helping the students apply the principles that are taught.