Peter Ladefoged Quotes

Peter Nielsen Ladefoged was a British linguist and phonetician. He was active at the universities of Edinburgh, Scotland and Ibadan, Nigeria 1953–61.He was Professor of Phonetics Emeritus at University of California, Los Angeles , where he taught from 1962 to 1991. His book A Course in Phonetics is a common introductory text in phonetics, and The Sounds of the World's Languages is widely regarded as a standard phonetics reference. Ladefoged also wrote several books on the phonetics of African languages.

✵ 17. September 1925 – 24. January 2006
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Peter Ladefoged: 5   quotes 0   likes

Famous Peter Ladefoged Quotes

“I wanted to find out why Shelley could write better-sounding poetry than I.”

Los Angeles Times (1970); on why he chose to pursue phonetics.

“My immediate answer was, 'I don't have a singing butler and three maids who sing, but I will tell you what I can as an assistant professor.”

Los Angeles Times (2004); on his response to Cukor's request to assist Rex Harrison to behave like a phonetician.

“[It's] not our decision to make. It's up to the people themselves.”

National Public Radio (1999); on the preservation of languages.

“It was really [David] Whitteridge who taught me to be a scientist.”

Ladefoged's informal CV; on his becoming a scientist.

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