Phon 1.7.0alpha2

Phon is a software program that greatly facilitates a number of tasks related to the analysis of phonological data. Built to support research in phonological development (including babbling), second language acquisition, and phonological disorders, Phon can also be used to investigate virtually all types of phonological investigations (e.g. loanword phonology, fieldwork in phonology). Phon supports multimedia data linkage, unit segmentation (e.g. utterance, word), multiple-blind transcription, automatic labeling of data (features, syllabification), and systematic comparisons between target (model) and actual (produced) phonological forms. All of these functions are accessible through a user-friendly graphical interface. Databases managed within Phon can also be queried using a powerful search system adapted for the needs of the phonologist. This software program works on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux platforms and is compliant with the CHILDES ([http://talkbank.org/ TalkBank]) XML data format. Phon is being made freely available to the community as open-source software. Phon facilitates data exchange among researchers and is currently used for the elaboration of the shared [http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/phon/ PhonBank] database, a new initiative within CHILDES to support empirical needs of research in all areas of phonological development.