IPA & Website: Peter Ladefoged's IPA Home Page

Peter Ladefoged (1925-2006)
Image from Peter Ladefoged's homepage

So, I know it is kind of too early to ask you if you have tried the ramen restaurant I recommended yesterday, but you guys can tell me after you have tried this weekend, and leave me comments. I also have to say that I have only tried the one in Sai Wan Ho, so the other branches, I have no idea how good or bad they prepare their noodles.

Okay, so it is weekend, what's the goodie this Friday?

For those of you who are keen on revising your IPA all the time, I have already written some articles on the methods, you are welcome to revisit those articles and refresh your memory.

Today, I have an extremely good website to recommend, with sound clips recorded by one of the best and most renowned linguists of all time, Peter Ladefoged. Here is the link:
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/contents.html

What you get to make use of in this homepage, are some very useful sound files of which Peter Ladefoged recorded, so say, you are reading Chapter 1, you choose the IPA symbols you would like to listen to, and you choose consonants to listen. When you click on the left side of /p/, you will hear the pronunciation of /p/ combined with a vowel /a/, so you will here /pa/. When you click on the right side of /p/, you will hear /p/ in between 2 vowels, which is /apa/. Try it, shouldn't be that difficult.

Image from Peter Ladefoged's homepage 

There are also many amazing things to read and watch, such as the X-ray animations of the movement of the mouth when pronouncing words in Chapter 12 -- Making English Vowels, different languages (such as Thai and Hindi) and their vowel sounds in Chapter 13-- Action of the Larynx, and possibly the most useful of all, Chapter 3 -- Vowel Contrasts, in which American and BBC English vowels can be listened to.

This weekend, make good use of it.

For someone who has contributed his whole life to the study of English phonetics and linguistics, he should really be remembered. You are advised to read Remembering Peter Ladefoged as well as a way to thank him.


Resources:
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/10/food-and-restaurant-sapporo-sai-wan-ho.html
http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/ladefoge/
http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/ladefoge/remember/index.htm
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/contents.html