Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introductory Text to Acoustic & Auditory Phonetics
Review: Johnson's text fills a lacuna in Phonetics primers by introducing the fundamentals of acoustics in terms that students new to phonetics can grasp.

Johnson intersperses fairly complex issues with practical applications of the concepts making the text approachable. These practical applications often can be translated into classroom exercises and are occasionally humorous.

I found the explanation of waves, harmonics, and formants particularly clear and helpful. The segue from acoustics to auditory phonetics is seamless.

Adding this text to the reading list of my intro to phonetics class (undergrad) reaped pleasant rewards.

This text is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate students with limited exposure to acoustic and auditory phonetics, but is useful for even seasoned phoneticians.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to the Subject!!!!
Review: This has to be one of the best texts on phonetics I've ever encountered. Dr. Johnson takes some very difficult concepts in accoustic theory and makes them accessible to the beginning student.