Handbook of the International Phonetic Association : A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet

Rating:
Summary: Tells one a lot of what a linguist would know already
Review: HANDBOOK OF THE IPA is a guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, the standard manner of transcribing speech in all of the world's languages. This is not a textbook of phonetics, one is expected to already know something of the subject, and definitions of phonetic terminology are given only to clarify certain aspects of the alphabet. There are also no criticisms of the IPA; the handbook aims to be entirely practical and avoid theoretical matters.

The opening section of the book introduces the symbols of the IPA and gives some example transcriptions of individual words from various languages. The bulk of the book is dedicated to transcriptions of a translated text in the IPA and twenty-nine languages in all are represented, though unfortunately most are Indo-European. American English is used instead of Received Pronunciation, which I felt would have been more appropriate.

The work has five appendicies. The first, "Principles of the International Phonetic Association", is really a discussion of the principles of the alphabet and does not mention other aspects of the association's work. The second is an explanation of computer coding of IPA symbols. Much space is dedicated to SGML entities, but this can be seen as historically superseded with the inclusion of the IPA within the Unicode Standard. The third appendix discusses the ExtIPA extentions to the IPA, which I found most interesting. These extensions, intended for the transcription of disordered speech, is one aspect of the IPA which one will not normally encounter in linguistics textbooks. The fourth appendix discusses the history and work of the International Phonetic Association, giving the by-laws and information on how to join.

The most useful, and really the only vital portion of the Handbook comes at the end in the fifth appendix: the four reference charts of the IPA. These are set up in such a fashion to explain the IPA in themselves.

The HANDBOOK will probably be of limited use to most linguists unless they have a particular love for the IPA. The charts in the back of the book are vital, but they are also provided gratis by the assocation. So, since the book tells the linguist what he has already been trained in through other materials, it is difficult to recommend the HANDBOOK.

Rating:
Summary: Leaves something to be desired
Review: On page 4 of this book I found the following sentence, which really imploded my glottal stops: "This introduction can only deal with a few important points, and readers who need a more through treatment of phonetic description should consult phonetics textbooks" Are these people for real? thought I. It is some comfort to know that there are several excellent phonetics texts currently available. The explanatory sections in this handbook are written in a quaint, almost stuffy sort of prose. Modern Greek and Spanish are not among the languages used to illustrate the pronciples of IPA transcription. In sum, this book is not terribly helplful or useful but educated people should probably own a copy for reasons of historical importance.

Rating:
Summary: Leaves something to be desired
Review: On page 4 of this book I found the following sentence, which really imploded my glottal stops: "This introduction can only deal with a few important points, and readers who need a more through treatment of phonetic description should consult phonetics textbooks" Are these people for real? thought I. It is some comfort to know that there are several excellent phonetics texts currently available. The explanatory sections in this handbook are written in a quaint, almost stuffy sort of prose. Modern Greek and Spanish are not among the languages used to illustrate the pronciples of IPA transcription. In sum, this book is not terribly helplful or useful but educated people should probably own a copy for reasons of historical importance.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST HAVE
Review: Personally I think that this is a MUST HAVE BOOK for any linguist, or self-proclaimed linguists and linguist-wannabes.

I have used this book many times as an excellent reference on many occasions while attaining my Bachelor's degree in Linguistics. Now, a year later, I still see myself referring back to it for helpful information.
One need not be a linguist to enjoy it, but I highly recommend it as it would significantly aid in ones better understanding if one were to know what a voiceless velar fricative is, per example.

Rating:
Summary: What you'd expect
Review: This book is exactly what one would expect it to be: a thorough explanation of the International Phonetic Alphabet. It has a beginning section on the description of consonant and vowel sounds and thier places of articulation. The best part about the book is it analyzes the phonetic alphabet of most of the world's languages including many lesser used ones such as Bulgarian, Catalan, and Igbo, for example. The back has a description of each of the symbols so one can figure out what sound an unfamiliar symbol represents. This is a good reference book for all linguistics.

Rating:
Summary: At last we got it!
Review: This is a much needed and superb book. It is a must for all the specialists and beginners in phonetic transcription. At last, we have a general and compact presentation of the current version of IPA, also throwing new light on the rationale of some choices that were not clear or explicit enough in the papers appeared in the Journal of the IPA. A new symbol (for the retroflex implosive of Sindhi) is also added, together with some proposals for a wider usage of little apex letters. I would have appreciated still more details on the (clumsy and much debatable) solutions proposed by present IPA for tonal notations: I feel definitely more at ease on Yuanren Chao's side! The choice of sample languages is quite balanced as for families and geographical distribution. In my opinion, however, the languages should also have been chosen also because of their sociolinguistic relevance. Might we hope, e.g., for something on Spanish and Italian in the next edition?

Rating:
Summary: Great reference for the IPA
Review: This is a really nifty little book. It outlines the nature and history of the International Phonetic Alphabet, provides extremely useful, compact charts of IPA phonetic symbols, and illustrates the use of the IPA by giving descriptions of the sound systems of a wide variety of languages. I was pleasantly surprised by the eclectic choice of example languages (e.g. Amharic, Galician, Catalan, Tukang Besi). If you're at all interested in linguistics or just curious about languages in general, this is a great find at a great price.

Rating:
Summary: An essential desk reference for linguists.
Review: Whether you're a linguist by hobby or profession, this book is essential desk reference material. It's set up in an easy to use manner; it has an array of tables on the alphabet, consice appendices, and transcriptions for many different languages, showing the alphabet in action. It's easy to open up the book and find the tables for easy reference right away. There's nothing you won't find in this book to be able to implement the alphabet in your life, although the way it is set up is such that it's not easy reading if you're a novice. On that same note, however, you won't need any other materials to famaliarize yourself with it.