Clinical Phonetics

The sixth edition of the classic textbook, Clinical Phonetics, continues to serve as both a practical guide and a thought-provoking reflection of the evolving landscape of the field of phonetics for speech-language pathology students. It provides articulatory descriptions and transcription guidance for the basics of American English phonetics, while also showcasing the diversity of phonetic forms that students will encounter across talkers with varied linguistic and clinical characteristics. This edition aims to take a more integrative approach than past editions—highlighting the intersection of language backgrounds, community contexts, and clinical decision-making throughout the chapters. 

One of the most significant changes to this edition is the inclusion of a foundational discussion at the beginning of the text on how linguistic characteristics vary among speakers and why these differences matter in clinical practice—a topic students consistently find both engaging and relevant. These concepts are revisited across multiple chapters to support integrated learning and to emphasize key considerations for applying phonetics in clinical settings. The updates to the text are designed to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and awareness needed to become effective, responsive clinicians who can confidently and accurately transcribe speech in all its rich and meaningful variation.

New to the Sixth Edition

• New and expanded audio materials using voices that reflect a range of ages, genders, and racial and cultural backgrounds, ensuring that the speech samples used for transcription practice better represent the populations students are likely to encounter in clinical work.
• Transcription conventions aligned with the International Phonetic Alphabet, including modifications to some core symbols (for instance, /ɹ/ instead of /r/), diacritics, and conventions for marking stress.
• Chapter 5 on consonant transcription is reorganized by manner rather than place of articulation in order to help students better understand natural classes that underlie phonological patterns.
• To help students tackle the challenge of narrow transcription, one chapter has been divided into two: 
  • Chapter 7 focuses on typical allophonic variation.
  • Chapter 8 addresses clinical deviations. The clinical speech transcription exercises in this chapter are reorganized to start with changes that are easier to transcribe, like stop substitutions, and progress to more challenging deviations like vowel distortions.
• Completely new or revised illustrations throughout the text, depicting the important features of individual speech sounds. 

Key Features

• Phonetic diversity highlighted throughout the book
• Emphasis on transcription of clinically relevant variation...read more...