Why do we speak the way we do, and what do our voices tell others about us? What is the truth behind the myths that surround how we speak? Jane Setter explores these and other fascinating questions in this engaging introduction to the power and the science of the voice. The book first takes us on a tour of the sounds in our language and how we produce them, as well as how and why those sounds vary in different varieties of English. The origins of our vast range of accents are explained, al...

This volume explores and rearticulates the relationship between language and prejudice. Language plays an important role in the conceptualization, enactment, and defence of prejudice at both the individual and institutional level. Language (and language users) can also be the object of prejudice, and language itself can - with some conditions - be thought of as a solution to prejudice. The chapters in the volume examine how prejudice manifests itself, how it is perceived, and how it might ...

Phonetics - the study and classification of speech sounds - is a major sub-discipline of linguistics. Bringing together a team of internationally renowned phoneticians, this handbook provides comprehensive coverage of the most recent, cutting-edge work in the field, and focuses on the most widely-debated contemporary issues. Chapters are divided into five thematic areas: segmental production, prosodic production, measuring speech, audition and perception, and applications of phonetics. Eac...