Communicating by speech is seemingly one of the most natural activities for humans. However, despite its apparent obviousness and ease, speech production is a very complex activity with multiple levels of organization involved with transforming cognitive intent into a meaningful sequence of sounds. This book establishes a connection between the physiology of speech and linguistics, and provides a detailed account of speech production processes, indicating how various languages of the world make use of human anthropophonic capacities. The book also offers new insights into the possible ways in which articulatory-based phonetics and phonology might be unified, making it essential reading matter for anyone involved in this field. Numerous illustrations are included which enhance the reader s understanding.