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Phonetic Data Analysis

An Introduction to Fieldwork and Instrumental Techniques

Peter Ladefoged author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:4th Aug '03

Should be back in stock very soon

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Phonetic Data Analysis cover

Phonetic Data Analysis examines the procedures involved in describing the sounds of a language and illustrates the basic techniques of experimental phonetics, most of them requiring little more than a tape recorder, a video camera, and a computer.


  • Examines the procedures involved in describing the sounds of a language and illustrates the basic techniques of experimental phonetics.
  • Written by Peter Ladefoged, one of the world’s leading phoneticians.
  • Enables readers to work with a speaker in class or go out into the field and make their own discoveries about how the sounds of a language are made.
  • Provides full descriptions of techniques that are readily available and do not require the resources of a major phonetics laboratory.
  • Includes enlightening comments throughout about Ladefoged’s own fieldwork experiences.

"This is a wonderful book – one we have all been waiting for, perhaps without knowing it, and one that will make us wonder how we ever did without it. I look forward to recommending it to anyone undertaking an instrumental phonetic investigation." Nina Grønnum, University of Copenhagen


"Phonetic Data Analysis is one of the most useful linguistics books written in the last 25 years. With his trademark clarity of thought and expression, Peter Ladefoged has written a book that is sure to be a classic. Every field linguist should own a copy of this book. I plan to carry it with me and follow its suggestions in all my future field research in the Amazon." Dan Everett, University of Manchester


"Peter Ladefoged is widely acknowledged as the world's leading phonetician. I warmly recommend this unique and remarkable new book to students and professionals interested in phonetic fieldwork or experimental phonetics. It is deeply practical and very easy to understand; it is also full of illuminating personal experience from a lifetime of investigating hundreds of languages in every inhabited continent." John Laver, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh


"This is a very useful and personal book. Peter Ladefoged brings us along for a phonetic field trip where serious research is always interspersed with the joy of getting to know one another. This book will show you how to make your own palatography mirrors (ask a mirror-maker for help!) and how doing phonetics really well can make for a fascinating life." Keith Johnson, Ohio State University

ISBN: 9780631232704

Dimensions: 230mm x 155mm x 17mm

Weight: 327g

208 pages