Phonetic Study of West African Languages

When it was first published in 1968, this monograph was among the most important contributions to the area of phonetic research in Africa since the publication of Westermann and Ward's Practical Phonetics for Students of African Languages in 1933. Drawing from a sample of sixty-one West African languages, Dr Ladefoged offers a description of the phonetic elements that cause differences in lexical and grammatical meaning. In particular, he focuses on unusual sounds, highlighting their linguistic function and providing a detailed account of their application in the languages concerned. Supplementing Dr Ladefoged's analyses are a number of helpful diagrams and illustrations as well as two appendices and a bibliography.

Foreword Joseph H. Greenberg; Introduction; 1. Consonant contrasts; 2. Airstream mechanisms and double articulations; 3. Phonation types; 4. Stops and affricates; 5. Nasals and nasalization; 6. Fricatives and approximants; 7. Laterals and forms of r; 8. Secondary articulations and clusters; 9. Vowels; 10. Tone and intonation; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

This monograph was among the most important contributions to the area of phonetic research in Africa. Drawing from a sample of sixty-one West African languages, Dr Ladefoged offers a description of the phonetic elements that cause differences in lexical and grammatical meaning. Supplementing Dr Ladefoged's analyses are a number of helpful diagrams and illustrations.