A Primer of Phonetics
This volume, even more than the 'Handbook, ' will puzzle beginners by the confusion of elementary and advanced learning. Distinctions which are both clear and important for a specialist are not always either clear or important for a learner; while the distinction between "inner" and "outer" rounding on p. 15, which even Prof. Sievers ('Phonetik, ' p. 75) confessed too technical for him, might surely be omitted from a primer. Again, on p. 36 we have a combination to represent a single sound, made up of two symbols, a pair of brackets and three diacritics, and this is spoken of as merely tentative until our "analysis becomes more minute"! The effect of this elaboration is that many important distinctions have to be ignored-for example, that between sonant and consonant, nasals and liquids, &c, which is of much practical importance. Thus, in the German specimen on p. 101, "dannen" is written by four symbols which may be transliterated by dan n. Now "dannen" is undoubtedly a word of two syllables, and therefore the two sounds which are here represented by the same symbol differ in the very important respect that one can be the bearer of the syllabic accent, while the other cannot. As Dr. Sweet rightly regards phonetics as the indispensable foundation for all study of language, it would have been better to put in the foreground those distinctions which have been of the greatest moment in the history of languages. Dr. Sweet's attempt to restore the true or approximate pronunciation of Latin and Greek will be found both interesting and suggestive.

-The Athenaeum, Issue 3375
1100136304
A Primer of Phonetics
This volume, even more than the 'Handbook, ' will puzzle beginners by the confusion of elementary and advanced learning. Distinctions which are both clear and important for a specialist are not always either clear or important for a learner; while the distinction between "inner" and "outer" rounding on p. 15, which even Prof. Sievers ('Phonetik, ' p. 75) confessed too technical for him, might surely be omitted from a primer. Again, on p. 36 we have a combination to represent a single sound, made up of two symbols, a pair of brackets and three diacritics, and this is spoken of as merely tentative until our "analysis becomes more minute"! The effect of this elaboration is that many important distinctions have to be ignored-for example, that between sonant and consonant, nasals and liquids, &c, which is of much practical importance. Thus, in the German specimen on p. 101, "dannen" is written by four symbols which may be transliterated by dan n. Now "dannen" is undoubtedly a word of two syllables, and therefore the two sounds which are here represented by the same symbol differ in the very important respect that one can be the bearer of the syllabic accent, while the other cannot. As Dr. Sweet rightly regards phonetics as the indispensable foundation for all study of language, it would have been better to put in the foreground those distinctions which have been of the greatest moment in the history of languages. Dr. Sweet's attempt to restore the true or approximate pronunciation of Latin and Greek will be found both interesting and suggestive.

-The Athenaeum, Issue 3375
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A Primer of Phonetics

A Primer of Phonetics

by Henry Sweet
A Primer of Phonetics

A Primer of Phonetics

by Henry Sweet

Overview

This volume, even more than the 'Handbook, ' will puzzle beginners by the confusion of elementary and advanced learning. Distinctions which are both clear and important for a specialist are not always either clear or important for a learner; while the distinction between "inner" and "outer" rounding on p. 15, which even Prof. Sievers ('Phonetik, ' p. 75) confessed too technical for him, might surely be omitted from a primer. Again, on p. 36 we have a combination to represent a single sound, made up of two symbols, a pair of brackets and three diacritics, and this is spoken of as merely tentative until our "analysis becomes more minute"! The effect of this elaboration is that many important distinctions have to be ignored-for example, that between sonant and consonant, nasals and liquids, &c, which is of much practical importance. Thus, in the German specimen on p. 101, "dannen" is written by four symbols which may be transliterated by dan n. Now "dannen" is undoubtedly a word of two syllables, and therefore the two sounds which are here represented by the same symbol differ in the very important respect that one can be the bearer of the syllabic accent, while the other cannot. As Dr. Sweet rightly regards phonetics as the indispensable foundation for all study of language, it would have been better to put in the foreground those distinctions which have been of the greatest moment in the history of languages. Dr. Sweet's attempt to restore the true or approximate pronunciation of Latin and Greek will be found both interesting and suggestive.

-The Athenaeum, Issue 3375

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781663545824
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date: 08/06/2020
Pages: 126
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Henry Sweet (15 September 1845 – 30 April 1912) was an English philologist, phonetician and grammarian. As a philologist, he specialized in the Germanic languages, particularly Old English and Old Norse. In addition, Sweet published works on larger issues of phonetics and grammar in language and the teaching of languages. Many of his ideas have remained influential, and a number of his works continue to be in print, being used as course texts at colleges and universities.
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