'Barry Heselwood's Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice is an asset to the phonetic community. It will enable a greater number of teachers, around the world, to convey to their students how, and why, phonetic transcription is done.' John Esling, University of Victoria The first book-length monograph to address all of the important aspects of phonetic transcription How has phonetic transcription developed as a special mode of writing? What distinguishes phonetic notation from spelling and transliteration? What is its relationship with phonetic theory? This book takes a historical and theoretical perspective on the development of phonetic notation and phonetic transcription. Different notation systems and different kinds of transcription are described, and an account is offered of how phonetic symbols work to denote abstract theoretical categories and to represent spoken language data. Arguments are put for the value of impressionistic phonetic transcription as a record of auditory-perceptual analysis, and the relationship between transcription and instrumental records is examined. Various uses of phonetic transcription are also surveyed. The most recent versions of the IPA, ExtIPA, VoQS and IPA Braille charts, and an elaborated IPA chart, are included in the Appendix along with a glossary of technical terms. Barry Heselwood is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Leeds, where he teaches phonetics and phonology. Cover image: (c) David Thomas, www.junctionworkshop.co.uk. Cover design: riverdesign.co.uk. [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com