8th Edition

Gimson's Pronunciation of English

By Alan Cruttenden Copyright 2014
    410 Pages
    by Routledge

    410 Pages
    by Routledge

    Since its first publication in 1962, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English has been the essential reference book for anyone studying or teaching the pronunciation of English.

    This eighth edition has been updated to describe General British (GB) as the principal accent, rather than RP, and the accompanying transcriptions have been brought into line with recent changes in pronunciation. This latest edition also includes completely rewritten chapters on the history of the language and the emergence of a standard, alongside a justification for the change from RP to GB.

    A further bonus to this important text is its extensive and attractive new Companion Website (www.routledge.com/cw/cruttenden), which now includes moment-by-moment commentaries on videos showing the articulation of all GB consonants and vowels in spoken phrases, as well as cross-referencing between the book and these videos. The Companion Website also includes new recordings of Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English, and features links to recordings of recent and current GB with comments and transcriptions.

    Comprehensive yet accessible, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English remains the indispensable reference book for anyone for anyone with an interest in English phonetics.

    PART I: Speech and language
    1. Communication
    2. The production of speech
    3. The sounds of speech
    4. The description and classification of speech sounds
    5. Sounds in language
    PART II: The sounds of English
    6. The historical background
    7. Standard and regional accents
    8. The English vowels
    9. The English consonants
    PART III: Words and connected speech
    10. Words
    11. Connected speech
    12. Words in connected speech
    13. Teaching the pronunciation of English

    Biography

    A. C. Gimson was Professor of Phonetics at the University College, London.

    Alan Cruttenden is Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University of Manchester, and Fellow of the Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford.

    'There are books which you need to read, possibly from the library, and books which you need to own. Together with a pronouncing dictionary of English, this excellent update of Gimson's classic description of the pronunciation of English, now completely rewritten by Alan Cruttenden, should be on the bookshelf of every serious student or teacher of English.' - Daniel Hirst, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, France & Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    'Unique and unrivalled, of Cruttenden's four successive brilliant re-workings and updatings upon the famous Gimson foundation, this is the most remarkable yet, not least for its groundbreaking new audio-visual Companion Website.' - Jack Windsor-Lewis, formerly of the University of Leeds, UK

    'This well-respected volume continues to be an invaluable authority on the pronunciation of English, and the on-going efforts by Alan Cruttenden to keep it updated are exceptionally welcome. In this eighth edition, in addition to the material being revised throughout, there are substantial changes to Chapter 6, on the Historical Background, and also Chapter 7, on Standard and Regional Accents, both of which have largely been rewritten. These updates will ensure this volume continues to be an essential resource for anyone teaching or researching the pronunciation of English, especially with the continued development of on-line resources to accompany the book.' - David Deterding, University of Brunei, Darussalam

    'Under Alan Cruttenden’s excellent stewardship, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English continues to be the ultimate authority on the subject of English phonetics; no student or teacher of this subject can do without it.

    Cruttenden’s rejection of the term "Received Pronunciation" in favour of "General British" is, in my opinion, timely and his transcriptional revisions to certain vowel symbols reflective of current trends in General British pronunciation.

    The commentaries on articulation added to the MRI videos on the companion website are particularly elucidating. I will definitely be referring my students to this informative material.'

    - Jane Setter, University of Reading, UK

    '...Cruttenden has again done an excellent job in updating GRP so that it remains the chief source of information on the pronunciation of standard English and related accents for English teachers and phoneticians around the world.' - Stanimir V. Rakic, formerly of the University of East Sarajevo, the LINGUIST LIST