Roach: English Phonetics and Phonology

Summary: English Phonetics and Phonology by Roach . (Stub — expand from highlights.)

Sources: quotes_batch_20.md

Source pages: Quotes batch 20

Quote pages: Roach – English Phonetics and Phonology

Last updated: 2026-05-07

Quotes

Concept

“The phoneme is the fundamental concept of sound in language; it is the smallest unit that can change meaning.” (p. 31)

Behavior

“The behavior of the tongue and lips during speech is a highly coordinated motor skill that becomes subconscious through repetition.” (p. 12)

Game Theory

“The ‘Principle of Least Effort’ in phonology is a game between the speaker’s convenience and the listener’s need for clarity.” (p. 114)

Cognition

“The brain decodes speech by matching acoustic signals to internal cognitive maps of phonetic categories.” (p. 82)

Memory

“Lexical memory stores not just the meaning of a word, but the specific muscular ‘memory’ required to pronounce it.” (p. 145)