understanding phonology ( update ) understanding phonology gussenhoven , carlos ( university of nijmegen , the netherlands ) and jacobs , haike ( university of nijmegen and the free university of amsterdam , the netherlands ) ; understanding phonology ; publication march 1998 304pp pb 0 340 69218 9 14 . 99 / us $ 19 . 95 hb 0 340 69217 0 40 . 00 / us $ 70 . 00 arnold publishing ( american edition is co-published with oup ) this book gives a clear and accurate picture of current phonological theory in a small number of pages . john goldsmith , university of chicago this skilfully written new text provides a broad , yet up-to - date , introduction to phonology . assuming no previous knowledge of phonology or linguistic theory , the authors introduce the basic concepts and build on these progressively , discussing the main theories and illustrating key points with carefully chosen examples . a wide range of phenomena are covered : speech production , segmental contrasts , tone , quality , prosodic structure , metrical relations and intonation . the main theories are introduced and their contributions to our understanding of phonology , as well as their shortcomings , are discussed objectively . contents : the production of speech / some typology : sameness and difference / making the form fit / two levels of representation / distinctive features / ordered rules / the diminutive suffix in dutch / levels of representation / representing tone / skeletal slots and moras / feature geometry / complex segments / stress / iambic and trochambic rhythm in optimality theory . readership : students of linguistics . available on inspection for lecturers ( quote linglist598 ) tel : + 44 ( 0 ) 171 873 6355 fax : + 44 ( 0 ) 171 873 6325 e - mail : milly . neate @ hodder . co . uk