This book is designed to equip the reader with a foundation for independent research in the phonetic study of speech. It makes no assumptions about prior knowledge of the subject, and is meant to be suitable as a comprehensive reference textbook on phonetics for graduates with no previous direct experience in the subject, who are following conversion courses to prepare themselves for research in phonetics and related subjects. It can also be used as a textbook supporting undergraduate courses on phonetics from elementary to advanced levels.

The book is thus addressed to readers who wish to pursue the subject from an initial to an advanced stage. I have tried to offer a general orientation, and a framework which provides a guide to navigation through some of the central territory of phonetics. Above all, I hope that the book may stimulate readers to reflect on the theoretical foundations of the subject.

Speech is our most human characteristic. It is the most highly skilled muscular activity that human beings ever achieve, requiring the precise and rapid co-ordination of more than eighty different muscles, many of them paired. Even the expertise of the concert pianist pales into relative insignificance beside the intricately co-ordinated muscular vocal skills exercised by a ten-year-old child talking to friends in the school playground. A pianist playing a rapid arpeggio makes about sixteen finger strokes per second, each the product of multiple motor commands to the muscles of the fingers, wrist and arm.