The nature of phonetics

Abstract

In ‘The Future of Phonetics’, Klaus Kohler sets out his personal view of modern phonetics as an integrated subject. He sets his vision of the future of phonetics, seen broadly as the study of the spoken medium of language, in a historical perspective. He is concerned to argue that modern phonetics is not the juxtaposition of subjects dealing with the spoken medium, but should be considered to be an autonomous subject. His argument is both academic and political, in that he suggests that independent departments of phonetics, with their own budgets, would thereby be protected from the loss of staff, funds, research and teaching activities that he describes as happening in several cases after amalgamation with linguistics.