Applying Phonetics

Foreword xii

Acknowledgments xiii

About the Companion Website xiv

Part I What Is Speech? 1

1 Introducing Phonetics: The Science of Speech 3

1.1 speech, language, and communication 4

1.2 the sound structure of speech 8

1.3 phonetics as a field of study 9

2 The Human Vocal Tract 14

2.1 the vocal apparatus 14

2.2 making speech 15

for further reading 24

3 Sound, Spelling, and Phonetic Transcription 25

3.1 why do speech specialists need a phonetic alphabet? 25

3.2 phonetic transcription 28

for further reading 31

4 The Sounds of Language 32

4.1 consonants 32

4.2 vowels 36

4.3 speech sounds in other languages 39

for further reading 41

5 Beyond Segments 42

5.1 syllables 42

5.2 stress 43

5.3 rhythm 46

5.4 intonation 48

for further reading 50

Part II Speech as a Human Phenomenon 51

6 The Origins of Speech 53

6.1 our place in evolution 53

6.2 how special is speech? 58

for further reading 61

7 Speech Across the Lifespan 62

7.1 anatomical development from infancy to the teens 62

7.2 the development of speech perception 65

7.3 childhood speech production 69

7.4 speech in adulthood 73

7.5 aging 75

for further reading 77

8 When Things Go Wrong: Disorders of Speech 78

8.1 cleft lip and cleft palate 78

8.2 stuttering 80

8.3 laryngectomy 81

8.4 aphasias 84

8.5 some additional disorders 85

8.6 the role of speech–language pathologists 85

8.7 transcribing disordered speech 86

for further reading 87

Part III Applying Phonetics 89

9 Machines that Talk 91

9.1 the history of speech synthesis 91

9.2 the nature of synthetic speech 99

9.3 the secret life of text?to?speech systems 101

9.4 how good is your speech synthesizer? 107

9.5 the future of synthetic speech 109

for further reading 110

10 Forensic Speech Science 111

10.1 earwitness identification 111

10.2 expert speaker identification: whose speech is on that threatening voicemail? 119

10.3 speaker profiling: what does the sound of a voice tell us about its owner? 126

10.4 disputed utterance analysis: was that really a confession? 128

10.5 other applications 131

10.6 some closing thoughts 131

for further reading 132

11 Pronunciation Teaching 133

11.1 second?language learning and accented speech 135

11.2 the nature of L2 accents 136

11.3 analyzing L2 speech 138

11.4 L2 accents and communication 141

11.5 pronunciation in second?language instruction 143

for further reading 151

12 Phonetics for Stage, Screen, and Concert Hall 152

12.1 accents for actors 152

12.2 some applications in vocal music 161

for further reading 167

13 More Applications in Arts and Entertainment 168

13.1 speech and animation 168

13.2 invisible speech: the paradox of ventriloquism 172

13.3 the sounds of constructed languages 173

for further reading 176

14 Phonetics in the Business World (and Beyond) 177

14.1 automatic speech recognition 177

14.2 the surprising story of the vocoder 180

14.3 speech in branding and marketing 182

for further reading 187

15 Ethical Issues 188

15.1 talking about speech 188

15.2 speech science versus speech science fiction 190

15.3 other ethical concerns 192

for further reading 195

Epilogue 196

Appendix 197

Glossary 199

List of Sources 207

Index 217