• ISBN13: 9788126941681
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: English Literature
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd
• Publisher Imprint: Atlantic
• Publication Date: May 31, 2025
• Pages: 409
• Original Price: INR 995.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 400 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): N/A

Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge: A Readers’ Companion includes a thorough Bio-Bibliography of Thomas Hardy and a jargon-free “Introduction” to the novel, covering all its essential aspects and the set milieu. A detailed chapter-wise summary, accompanied by key textual quotations, familiarises students with Hardy’s writing style and the novel’s texture, with each chapter further enriched with annotations and critical commentary to deepen understanding. The book additionally features four scholarly articles by Hardy specialists, each addressing a different dimension of the novel. This work explores the novel’s complexities while remaining accessible to students in India and other non-Anglophone countries, making it ideal for those with varying levels of language proficiency. It aims to stimulate critical thinking, encourage independent analysis, and support exam preparation. While primarily aimed at students, it also offers fresh insights for teachers and researchers interested in Hardy and Victorian British fiction, making it a valuable resource.

Nanigopal Chakrabarti retired as an Assistant Professor in English, after teaching for four decades in different Government Colleges of West Bengal, India. His books include Tales from the Mahabharata.

Sisir Kumar Chatterjee is an Associate Professor in the Post-Graduate Department of English at Hooghly Mohsin College, West Bengal, India. He has authored over twenty published research articles. His first monograph, Philip Larkin: Poetry that Builds Bridges, garnered him international recognition as a Larkin Scholar. His other works include: The World of Agha Shahid Ali (2021) and Burning Burning (2022). His second monograph, Begin Afresh: The Evolution of Philip Larkin’s Poetry, was published in March 2025. He is currently coediting another book, Arundhati Roy: Political, Ethical and Aesthetic Perspectives.

Sanmita Ghosh is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English at Jhargram Raj College, West Bengal, India. A recipient of the prestigious Charles Wallace India Trust Award (2004), Dr Ghosh’s research interests include Nineteenth-century Literature, Victorian fairy tales and Children’s Literature. Her research articles have been published in national and international journals and books.

• Preface ................................................................................ V
1. Introductory......................................................................1-5
• 1.1 Language as a Medium of Human Communication...........................................................1
• 1.2 Characteristics of Language in Brief............................1
• 1.3 Prescriptive and Descriptive Approaches to Language Study...........................................................2
• 1.4 Distinction between Langue and Parole......................3
• 1.5 Speech and Writing.....................................................3
• 1.6 Oral Communication...................................................4
• 1.7 Pioneers of Phonetics...................................................4
2. The Airstream Mechanism..............................................6-19
• 2.1 The Mechanism of Speech Production........................6
• 2.2 Branches of Phonetics..................................................7
• 2.3 The Airstream Mechanism........................................10
• 2.3.1 Pulmonic Ingressive Airstream Mechanism......13
• 2.3.2 Pulmonic Egressive Airstream Mechanism.......14
• 2.3.3 Glottalic Ingressive Airstream Mechanism.......14
• 2.3.4 Glottalic Egressive Airstream Mechanism........14
• 2.3.5 Velaric Ingressive Airstream Mechanism..........15
• 2.3.6 Velaric Egressive Airstream Mechanism...........15
• 2.4 The Process of Speech Production.............................16
3. The Organs of Speech...................................................20-42
• 3.1 Introduction...............................................................20
• 3.1.1 The Respiratory System...................................22
• The Phonatory System.....................................22
• 3.1.3 The Articulatory System...................................22
• 3.2 The Speech Organs....................................................23
• 3.2.1 The Lungs........................................................23
• 3.2.2 The Larynx and the Vocal Cords.....................24
• 3.2.3 The Glottis.......................................................27
• 3.2.4 The Pharynx.....................................................31
• 3.2.5 The Epiglottis...................................................31
• 3.2.6 The Roof of the Mouth/Hard Palate................31
• 3.2.7 The Soft Palate/Velum......................................32
• 3.2.8 The Uvula........................................................33
• 3.2.9 The Teeth.........................................................34
• 3.2.10 The Jaws........................................................34
• 3.2.11 The Tongue....................................................34
• 3.2.12 The Lips.........................................................37
• 3.2.13 The Nasal Cavity (Nose)................................38
• 3.3 Nomenclature of Speech Sounds after Articulators................................................................38
• 3.4 Active and Passive Articulators.................................39
4. Speech Sounds: Consonants.........................................43-74
• 4.1 English Sounds..........................................................43
• 4.2 Vowels and Consonants............................................44
• 4.3 The Description and Classification of Consonants....45
• 4.3.1 The Nature of Airstream Mechanism..............45
• 4.3.2 The Position of the Soft-palate.........................46
• 4.3.3 The State of the Glottis....................................47
• 4.3.4 The Point or Place of Articulation (POA)........48
• 4.3.4.1 Bilabial...............................................50
• 4.3.4.2 Labiodental........................................50
• 4.3.4.3 Dental................................................51
• 4.3.4.4 Alveolar..............................................51
• 4.3.4.5 Post-alveolar.......................................51
• 4.3.4.6 Palato-alveolar...................................52
• 4.3.4.7 Palatal................................................52
• 4.3.4.8 Velar...................................................52
• 4.3.4.9 Glottal................................................53
• 4.3.4.10 Retroflex............................................53
• 4.3.4.11 Uvular................................................54
• 4.3.4.12 Pharyngeal/Pharyngal.........................54
• 4.3.4.13 Epiglottal............................................55
• 4.3.5 The Manner of Articulation (MOA)................55
• 4.3.5.1 Plosives...............................................58
• 4.3.5.2 Affricates............................................60
• 4.3.5.3 Nasals................................................61
• 4.3.5.4 Trill/Roll.............................................63
• 4.3.5.5 Flap/Tap.............................................63
• 4.3.5.6 Lateral/Lateral Approximant..............63
• 4.3.5.7 Fricatives............................................64
• 4.3.5.8 Frictionless Continuant......................66
• 4.3.5.9 Semi-vowels/Approximants................67
• 4.4 The Chart of English Consonantal Phonemes...........69
• 4.5 The Three-term Label Description of English Consonants................................................................70
• 4.6 Consonantal Sounds in Various Words.....................71
5. Speech Sounds: Vowels.............................................75-106
• 5.1 The Description and Classification of Vowels...........75
• 5.1.1 The Position of the Soft-palate.........................77
• 5.1.2 The Part of the Tongue Raised........................77
• 5.1.3 The Height of the Tongue................................80
• 5.1.4 The Position of the Lips...................................81
• 5.2 The Three-term Label Description of Pure Vowels/Monophthongs..............................................81
• 5.3 Cardinal Vowels (CVs)..............................................87
• 5.4 Monophthongs and Diphthongs................................92
• 5.5 The Description of Diphthongs.................................96
• 5.6 Glides/Moving Vowels.............................................101
• 5.7 Triphthong...............................................................102
• 5.8 Vowel Sounds in Various Words.............................104
6. Phonology................................................................107-131
• 6.1 What is Phonology?................................................107
• 6.2 Phonetics and Phonology........................................108
• 6.3 Some Major Concepts of Phonology.......................109
• 6.3.1 Phone.............................................................109
• 6.3.2 Phoneme.........................................................110
• 6.3.3 Allophone.......................................................111
• 6.3.4 How to Recognize Allophones?.....................112
• 6.4 The Principles of Phonemic Analysis/Discovery Procedures...............................................................114
• 6.4.1 The Principle of Contrastive Distribution......115
• 6.4.2 The Principle of Complementary Distribution...................................................116
• 6.4.3 The Principle of Free Variation......................117
• 6.4.4 The Principle of Phonetic Similarity...............118
• 6.4.5 The Principle of Pattern Congruity................119
• 6.4.6 The Principle of Economy..............................120
• 6.5 The Phoneme Theory..............................................120
• 6.5.1 Daniel Jones and the Phoneme.......................121
• 6.5.2 Jan Baudouin and the Phoneme.....................122
• 6.5.3 Edward Sapir and the Phoneme.....................123
• 6.5.4 Bloomfield and the Phoneme..........................124
• 6.5.5 Trubetzkoy and the Phoneme.........................125
• 6.6 Distinctive Features Theory.....................................126
• 6.7 Distinctive Features Theory: An Advancement of the Phoneme Theory...........................................129
• 6.7.1 Economy........................................................130
• 6.7.2 Better Generality............................................130
• 6.7.3 Empirical Evidence.........................................130
• 6.7.4 Naturalness....................................................130
• 6.7.5 Greater Explanatory Value.............................130
7. English Syllable Structure........................................132-169
• 7.1 Syllable....................................................................132
• 7.2 Division of Words into Syllables.............................133
• 7.3 The Structure of English Syllable............................134
• 7.4 Types of Syllable Structure in English/English
• Syllable Typology....................................................138
• 7.5 Consonant Cluster...................................................142
• 7.5.1 Initial Consonant Clusters..............................144
• 7.5.2 Final Consonant Clusters...............................146
• 7.6 Strong and Weak Syllable........................................155
• 7.7 Syllabic Consonants.................................................156
• 7.8 Elison or Slurring....................................................157
• 7.9 Vocoid and Contoid................................................157
• 7.10 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).....................158
• 7.11 Standard Variety of English.....................................160
• 7.12 Received Pronunciation (RP)...................................160
• 7.13 Phonetic Transcription.............................................161
• 7.14 Supra-segmental Phoneme.......................................164
• 7.14.1 Stress Phonemes...........................................165
• 7.14.2 Pitch Phonemes............................................166
• 7.14.3 Juncture Phoneme........................................167
• 7.14.4 Intonation Phoneme.....................................168
8. Word-Stress Word-Accent........................................170-193
• 8.1 About Stress and Accent.........................................170
• 8.2 Word-Stress Pattern in English................................174
• 8.3 Rules of Accentual Pattern in English (Rules of English Word-Stress)................................175
• 8.4 Stress/Accent in Compound Words.........................182
• 8.5 Stress Shift...............................................................185
• 8.6 Accent and Rhythm in Connected Speech/ Sentence...................................................................185
• 8.7 Rhythm....................................................................187
• 8.8 Stress-timed Rhythm................................................188
• 8.9 Weak Forms in English...........................................189
9. Intonation.................................................................194-205
• 9.1 Intonation and its Types..........................................194
• 9.2 Determining Factors of Intonation..........................196
• 9.2.1 Tone-Group/Breath-Group/Sense-Group.........197
• 9.2.2 Tonic Syllable (TS).........................................198
• 9.2.3 Constituents of Tone-Group/Tone-Unit..........199
• 9.3 Tone and their Functions.........................................200
• 9.3.1 Falling Tone...................................................201
• 9.3.2 Rising Tone....................................................202
• 9.3.3 Falling-Rising Tone........................................203
• 9.3.4 Rising-Falling Tone........................................204
• 9.4 Fall+Rise..................................................................204
10. Exercises.............................................................206-225
• 11. Key to Exercises..................................................226-248
• 12. Unsolved Exercises (Descriptive Questions)........249-251
• 13. Select Bibliography.............................................252-254
• 14. Index..................................................................255-269