ALAN CRUTTENDEN

Since its first publication in 1962, Gimsons 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, 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, Gimsons Pronunciation of English remains the indispensable reference book for anyone for anyone with an interest in English phonetics.

This seventh edition has been revised throughout, with particular emphasis on those areas which have seen rapid change in recent years. A new Introduction gives an overview of phonetics, examines the notion of a standard English accent and outlines key concepts in the learning of English as a first language and as an additional language. All the central chapters have been updated, notably by the inclusion of revised articulatory diagrams based on recent MRI scans. This new edition considers the developing status of English as an international language and discusses the current debate about the idea of a global pronunciation standard as an alternative to Received Pronunciation and General American. The layout of the book is now more user-friendly with the use of text boxes to summarise key information and an accompanying website, www.hodderplus.com/linguistics, contains exercises for learners; fMRI scans of English phrases, including all the vowels and consonants; and recordings by the author of part of the book. Since its first publication, Gimson''s Pronunciation of English has been the essential reference book for anyone studying or teaching the phonetics of English. It includes comprehensive coverage of individual vowels and consonants together with their variation and history; their articulation and acoustics, their rhythm and intonation, and how they develop in young children and foreign learners. All this ensures that Gimson''s Pronunciation of English will remain the most authoritative introduction to English phonetics for many years to come.

Since its publication, 'Gimson's Pronunciation of English' has been acknowledged as the standard description, both comprehensive and accessible, of spoken English: an essential book for anyone studying the sounds and tones of English or teaching English pronunciation and intonation to non-native speakers.| | This 6th edition comprises detailed revision throughout, with particular emphasis on those areas which have seen rapid changes in the last five years. The chapter on 'Standard and regional accents' has been expanded to accurately reflect changes in attitude to language standards, with a particular focus on recently recognised variation within a wider Received Pronunciation, such as Estuary English.| | The new edition continues to provide valuable guidance on how to teach the sounds of English to foreign learners, for whom a new subsection on pronouncing dictionaries has been added. In addition, many other sections have been substantially rewritten, including those on the syllable and phonotactics and on word accent, with new spectrograms added to improve the acoustic information.| | As with all previous editions of this classic work, great care has been taken to preserve the spirit of the original edition, such that 'Gimson's Pronunciation of English' will maintain its position as the standard reference book in the field for many years to come.