Understanding Phonology, Fifth Edition, provides a clear, accessible and broad introduction to phonology. Introducing basic concepts, it provides a comprehensive account of phonological topics like segmental contrasts; syllables and moras; quantity; tone and intonation; word stress; and prosodic constituent structure.

PrefaceAcknowledgementsThe IPA Chart1. Structures in languages1.1 Introduction1.2 Awareness of linguistic structure1.3 Language diversity1.4 What linguists do1.4.1 Language-external evidence1.4.2 Language-internal evidence1.5 Morphosyntactic structure1.5.1 Morphemes and words1.5.2 Syntax: phrases, clauses and sentences1.5.3 Some mismatches between phonology and morphosyntax in English1.6 Changing sounds1.7 Conclusion2. The production of speech2.1 Introduction2.2 The lungs and the larynx2.2.1 The vocal folds: the open and vibrating glottis2.2.2 Devoicing and aspiration2.2.3 Special types of phonation2.2.4 Pitch2.2.5 The glottal stop2.3 The vocal tract2.3.1 The pharynx2.3.2 The nasal cavity2.3.3 The mouth2.4 Vowels2.4.1 Monophthongs2.4.2 Diphthongs2.4.3 Nasalization2.5 Consonants2.5.1 Places of articulation2.5.2 Types of constriction2.6 Segmental durations2.7 Complex consonants2.7.1 Secondary articulations2.7.2 Double articulations2.7.3 Manner-contour consonants2.8 Nonpulmonic consonants2.9 Conclusion3. Some typology: sameness and difference3.1 Introduction3.2 Varying complexity3.3 Universals and implicational relations3.3.1 Plain or special?3.3.2 Avoiding complexity3.3.3 A word of caution3.3.4 Speech ergonomics3.3.5 System gaps3.4 Cultural and ambient factors in the development of sound systems3.5 Conclusion4. The varying shapes of sounds and words4.1 Introduction4.2 Allophonic variation4.3 Loanword adaptation4.3.1 The process of nativization4.4 Morpheme alternants4.5 The underlying form4.5.1 Choosing the underlying form4.5.2 Grammars vs ‘dictionaries’4.6 Conclusion5. A system of distinctive features5.1 Introduction5.2 Features for consonants5.2.1 Major class features5.2.2 Laryngeal features5.2.3 Manner features5.2.4 Place of articulation features5.3 Features for vowels5.4 Redundant vs contrastive features5.5 Complex segments5.6 Conclusion6. Making the form fit: serial rules or violable constraints?6.1 Introduction6.2 Serial rule application6.2.1 Rule formats6.2.2 Serial rule ordering6.3 Constraints6.3.1 Tableaux6.3.2 OT and loanwords6.4 Serial rules or ranked constraints?6.5 Conclusion7. Lexical phonology, postlexical phonology and phonetic implementation7.1 Introduction7.2 Defining an intermediate level of representation7.3 Lexical Phonology7.3.1 Reference to morphological labels7.3.2 Exceptions7.3.3 Structure preservation7.3.4 Native-speaker intuitions7.3.5 Application across word boundaries7.3.6 Lexical rules apply before postlexical rules7.4 Reference to phonological information in the lexicon7.5 Beyond surface representations7.5.1 Models of implementation7.5.2 Deciding between phonology and phonetic implementation7.6 Conclusion8. Between the segment and the syllable8.1 Introduction8.2 Syllabification and the Maximum Onset Principle8.2.1 The Sonority Profile8.3 Expanding the representations: hierarchies and autosegments8.3.1 Skeletal slots8.3.2 Autosegments8.3.3 Unfilled and unassociated slots8.3.4 Compensatory lengthening8.4 Moras8.5 Syllable-based generalizations8.6 Post-MOP syllabification rules8.7 Conclusion9. Tones9.1 Introduction9.2 The inadequacy of a linear model9.3 Word melodies9.3.1 Language-specific association9.4 Tone stability9.5 Tonal morphemes9.6 Accent9.7 The phonetic implementation of tone9.7.1 The vertical dimension: scaling9.7.2 The horizontal dimension: phonetic alignment9.8 Not by f0 alone9.8.1 Voice quality9.8.2 f0 perturbations and tone distribution9.9 Conclusion10. Word stress10.1 Introduction10.2 Primary stress, secondary stress and no stress in English10.3 Basic dimensions of foot structures10.3.1 Foot type10.3.2 Aligning words and feet10.4 Syllable weight10.4.1 Uneven feet?10.5 Stress clash10.6 Unbounded systems10.7 The roles of morphology10.8 Interactions of stress with segments and tones10.8.2 H-tones attracting stress10.9 Conclusion11. Phonology above the word11.1 Introduction11.2 Generalizations involving prosodic constituents11.3 The Strict Layer Hypothesis11.4 Factors determining prosodic phrasing11.5 Prosody above the foot11.5.1 The prosodic word11.5.2 The phonological phrase11.5.3 The intonation phrase11.5.4 The phonological utterance11.6 Deriving prosodic constituents11.6.1 Clitics11.6.2 The syntactic residue11.7 ConclusionReferencesLanguage IndexSubject Index