Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students. Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses and commentaries.Revised and updated throughout, this fifth edition of Practical English Phonetics and Phonology: treats British and American English side by side throughout the book, which is new to this edition; presents the essentials of the subject and their day-to-day applications in an engaging and accessible manner; covers all the core concepts of phonetics and phonology, such as the phoneme, syllable structure, production of speech, vowel and consonant possibilities, glottal settings, stress, weak forms, rhythm, intonation and the surprises of connected speech; gives descriptions of the sound systems of Spanish, Italian, French, German, Polish and Japanese; includes a glossary of key terms and new exercises, diagrams and updated references; is accompanied by an updated companion website which hosts a collection of samples provided by genuine speakers of 25 accent varieties from Britain, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore and West Africa, as well as answer keys and numerous recordings to accompany activities in the book.Written by authors who are experienced teachers and researchers, this bestselling textbook will appeal to all students of English language and linguistics and those training for a certificate in TEFL.