Homo Loquens: Man as a Talking Animal

Our communication by speech can be seen as a remarkable series of transformations involving the brain, the muscles, sound-waves, the ear and finally the brain again. In this 1977 text, Dennis Fry describes and explains these processes in this fascinating and comprehensive introduction to the study of human speech. He considers too our remarkable ability to interpret speech, even in adverse circumstances, and the feat of its acquisition by the child. He finally describes the functions of the two halves of the brain in speech communication, speech disorders and pathology and the relation between mental processes and speech. Dennis Fry writes for the non-specialist and the beginning student, and both intrigues and informs. We learn what lies behind such familiar curiosities as the tongue-twister, Spoonerism and the stammer, and we get a general grasp of the physical and psychological background to all our speech functions and malfunctions.