What is this?

I created this site in order to showcase some packages and techniques I have found useful for typesetting linguistics, particularly phonology, in LaTeX.

What is LaTex, and why should I use it?

LaTeX is a typesetting system (actually, that part is TeX) that, among other things, enables relatively easy, high-quality output for documents ranging from articles to books and even presentations. Further, it enables one to typeset things that are often difficult in WYSIWYG editors such as Microsoft Word, including IPA, trees (syntax or autosegmental phonology), matrices (as in SPE-style rules), and more.

There are many ways to obtain LaTeX, and there are a variety of editors you can use, as input files are just plain text. On Mac OS X I use the MacTeX distribution, whereas on Windows I usually use MiKTeX. Many Linux distrubutions (e.g., Ubuntu) include the ability to install a LaTeX system from their package manager.

There are plenty of LaTeX tutorials for beginners, as a quick search will show, so I will not cover that here. For most papers, a basic “article” template will suffice, so I recommend starting with that (your editor may include one). In the future, I may add more tips for beginners; for now, see my tips below for specific techniques.

How do I...?

In this section, I share tips I've used to typeset various things in LaTeX. I hope my tips and examples are helpful to others, and I welcome feedback.

General

Phonology

Syntax and other