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Edmund Gussmann (2002). Phonology: analysis and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xiii+234.

This book is intended to serve as an introductory text in phonology for students with no previous background in the discipline, but with basic knowledge of phonetic terminology and transcription and some general linguistic concepts. Gussmann does not attempt to give a survey of alternative theoretical models of phonological analysis, nor a thorough introduction to a particular formal model. Instead, he seeks to ‘ identify a body of data that most or perhaps all models would regard as calling for a phonological description’ (p. ix), and to provide a very general framework within which hypotheses about such data can be proposed and evaluated – the leitmotif of the book being that while ‘models come and go, problems remain’ (p. xi). However, though Gussmann claims not to adopt any specific theoretical doctrine or theory explicitly, his theoretical preferences are reflected quite strongly throughout the book, as Gussmann freely admits in the preface and as will be evident from the discussion below. The book consists of nine chapters of roughly even length, which, along with some supplementary reading material from other sources, could provide the basis for a semester-long introductory course at the undergraduate level. The organisation of the subject matter covered is as follows. Chapter 1 (‘Sounds and segments’) introduces the notion of phonological segments, discusses contextual variability in the phonetic manifestation of such entities and explains such concepts as alternation and complementary distribution. In Chapter 2 (‘The melody and the skeleton’), Gussmann argues that phonological segments are complex entities consisting of melodic units associated with skeletal slots, and posits an Association Condition to the effect that in order to be phonetically manifested (‘pronounceable phonological expressions’, p. 23), melodic elements must be associated with one or more skeletal positions and vice versa. Chapter 3 (‘Domains and phonological regularities ’) carefully examines the question of what constitutes a domain within which phonological generalisations are enforced. Gussmann concludes that though phonological domain structure often mirrors its morphological counterpart fairly closely, the former is in fact independent of the latter. Among other things, Gussmann argues for the existence of ‘pseudo-morphemes’, complex phonological domain structure that is not motivated by (real) morphological structure, e.g. to explain the anomalous occurrence of intervocalic [‰] in English dinghy and hangar (as [[dI‰]i] and [[hæ‰]@], respectively). The remainder of the book is almost exclusively devoted to syllables, syllable structure and related issues. Chapter 4 (‘The syllable’) introduces Gussmann’s conception of syllabic constituents as a level of phonological structure independent of both the skeletal and the melodic levels. The phonological syllable is claimed to consist of two obligatory constituents, an Onset (O) and a Rhyme (R). The latter obligatorily contains a Nucleus (N) and, if N is not branching, potentially an extranuclear skeletal slot as a rhymal complement Phonology 20 (2003) 430–435. f 2003 Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.1017/S0952675704220115 Printed in the United Kingdom