Human language is a remarkable phenomenon. Its study continues to be a source of fascination and delight. Dr. Donald Burquest, professor of linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington, developed this foundational textbook during years of helping students overcome the feelings of dismay that new phonology students experience when confronted by a mass of raw phonetic data. While working through the material, the student is led through the steps of organizing data and is introduced to particular theories for later in-depth specialization. In the second edition the author expanded on the first edition of this text by adding introductions to Autosegmental Phonology and Metrical Phonology. He has also included a series of problems at the end of most chapters that provide an opportunity for the student to apply the information in that chapter. This present edition incorporates numerous minor revisions and has an improved subject index. This textbook is intended for use in an upper division introductory course in phonology, preparing the student to further study aspects of current theory.