First published in 1775, this book is a pioneering work in the field of phonetics, the study of the sounds of language. The author argues that speech can be analyzed in terms of musical notation, and provides a detailed system of symbols for representing the different tones, rhythms, and inflections of speech. While some of the ideas in the book have been superseded by more recent linguistic research, Prosodia Rationalis remains a key historical document in the development of the study of speech sounds.
