Reviews

The study of tone is of central importance within linguistics. A majority of
languages are "tonal," meaning that pitch differences play a distinctive role
at the word level. Since the dawn of phonology, new insights into the
analysis and representation of tone have led the way to new theories
that have impacted other areas of phonology.
The Geometry and Features of Tone, first published in 1999, has not lost
its relevance, which makes this second edition a welcome publication.Harry Van der Hulst, Editor-in-Chief, The Linguistic Review
Professor of Linguistics, University of ConnecticutWe've been trying to talk Keith Snider into republishing this groundbreaking
work of his for years. Snider has drawn insights from lexical
phonology, autosegmental phonology and underspecification theory to
create a well-rounded theoretical framework. I can assure any linguist
studying a tone language that investing the effort to understand Register
Tier Theory pays off handsomely.Esteban I. Méndez Hord, MA in Linguistics, University of North DakotaI first came across Keith Snider and his work on tone during a
workshop which he led in Burkina Faso in 1997. I found his
introduction to RTT nothing less than eye-opening. To be sure, there's
plenty of theory here, but at the same time there is much that is practical
(a big plus for me: it really helped to make sense of tone). The insights I
gained back then have stayed with me and have been invaluable in my own
work and as I've sought to help others with theirs.Phil Davison, Linguistics Consultant, SIL Africa AreaNot an armchair linguist, Dr. Snider cut his professional teeth doing
fieldwork on Chumburung (Kwa), a tonal language spoken in Ghana, and
since that time has amassed a wealth of experience helping field linguists
around the world solve tone analysis problems through his consulting and
practical tone analysis workshops. Kevin L. Penner, Linguistics Coordinator, SIL Mexico