Book excerpt: First published in 1933, this book looks at the phonetics of African languages. It argues that a good grounding in phonetics and tone work is an indispensable preliminary to anyone embarking on a study of African language and so provides the material necessary for this in a simple form. The volume is primarily a practical manual for students of African languages but will also be an invaluable tool for students of general linguistics as a work of scientific interest. The languages observed present features of language that are very different to those found in Europe.