Glossary of Phonology

Philip Carr is Professor of Linguistics, Department of English, Montpellier University, France

Phil Carr's A Glossary of Phonology is an extremely useful piece of work. The terms selected are essential for anyone wishing to become acquainted with the fields of contemporary phonology and phonetics. The definitions are clear and compact with many internal cross-references. Not only does it offer definitions for the standard terms used in modern phonology and phonetics, but it also covers aspects of historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, bilingualism, and the philosophy of science. It also provides short biographies for some of the key players in the field. In a nutshell, it is a reference work useful for a large audience, from students to professionals in neighbouring disciplines. Even specialists in phonology and phonetics will refine their understanding of some concepts and may realise that their area of research has moved on and that assumptions taken for granted a decade ago are no longer accepted by other specialists in their field. Readers of modern works in phonology need access to the classical terminology of structuralism and generative linguistics but also to that of statistical approaches, usage-based models, cognitive linguistics and other frameworks. All this is provided by Phil Carr's glossary in a satisfying way. -- Jacques Durand, Professor of Linguistics, University of Toulouse and CNRS Phil Carr's A Glossary of Phonology is an extremely useful piece of work. The terms selected are essential for anyone wishing to become acquainted with the fields of contemporary phonology and phonetics. The definitions are clear and compact with many internal cross-references. Not only does it offer definitions for the standard terms used in modern phonology and phonetics, but it also covers aspects of historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, bilingualism, and the philosophy of science. It also provides short biographies for some of the key players in the field. In a nutshell, it is a reference work useful for a large audience, from students to professionals in neighbouring disciplines. Even specialists in phonology and phonetics will refine their understanding of some concepts and may realise that their area of research has moved on and that assumptions taken for granted a decade ago are no longer accepted by other specialists in their field. Readers of modern works in phonology need access to the classical terminology of structuralism and generative linguistics but also to that of statistical approaches, usage-based models, cognitive linguistics and other frameworks. All this is provided by Phil Carr's glossary in a satisfying way.