Linguistics - Definitions and Concepts

Linguistics: Definitions and Concepts
 Linguistics is the systematic scientific study of language. It is a discipline which

describes language in all its aspects, and formulates theories as to how it works.
 The word “linguistics” has been derived from Latin “lingua” (tongue) and “istics”
(science or knowledge). It studies language as a universal and recognizable part of
human behaviour.
 Linguistics is that science which studies the origin, organization, nature, and
development of language descriptively, historically, comparatively, and explicitly,
and formulates the general rules related to language.
 Modern linguistics is a science; as it works on the scientific procedure of observation,
formulation of hypothesis, experimentation, and formulation of law.
 As a discipline, linguistics engages both with science and humanities alike. Hence, it
falls somewhere between the social and natural sciences.
 When a law is formulated in linguistics, the following three parameters are

considered:
1. Completeness: the law formulated must account for most of the data.
2. Consistency: the law must be consistently applicable in all situations.
3. Simplicity: the law must be describable in simple terms.
 What do linguists do?

1. Describe language in all its aspects (but do not prescribe rules of correctness).
2. Observe the use of language (not the rules of language).
3. Respect all varieties of language (avoid favouring “higher”/ “accepted” varieties).
4. Accept new words and coinages as natural and continuous processes of the evolution
of languages.
5. Study spoken form of language first, and then the written form.
6. Question the superiority enjoyed by any language over the others.
Levels of Linguistic Analysis:

1. Phonetics: the study of human speech sounds, the raw material out of which language
is made. It does not concern itself with any particular language. George Bernard
Shaw’s Pygmalion (1913) is a didactic play about phonetics.
2. Phonology: the study of the organization of sounds into significant units called
phonemes. It concerns itself with the sound systems of a particular language.
Phonology is used as a cover term for phonetics and phonology.
3. Morphology: the study of the organization of phonemes into meaningful groups called
morphs, and the organization of morphs into morphemes and words.
4. Syntax: the study of the combination of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.
5. Semantics: the study of meaning. Sememe is the smallest, minimum functional unit of
meaning.
6. Pragmatics: the study of the influence of the practical contexts in the making of
meaning in language.
Dichotomies in Linguistic Analysis:
1. General Linguistics (supplies the concepts and categories in terms of which particular
languages should be analysed), and Descriptive Linguistics (provides the data that
confirm/refute the theories put forth by General Linguistics).
2. Diachronic description of language (traces the historical development of the language
and the changes that have taken place in it between successive points in time), and a
synchronic description of language (non-historical, an account of the language as it is
at some particular point of time).
3. Theoretical Linguistics (studies languages to construct theories regarding their
structure and functions, without considering any practical applications of the
languages), and Applied Linguistics (studies the application of various concepts in
linguistics to practical tasks, including teaching of language).
4. Micro-linguistics (studies the micro-level structures of the language systems), and
Macro-linguistics (takes a broader view on the subject, including all aspects like
psychological, cultural, acquisitional, physiological, etc. in the study of language
systems).
5. Comparative Linguistics (comparing two or more diachronic descriptions of
language-separate study on the evolution of two different languages and then
comparing both), and Contrastive Linguistics (makes a comparison of two or more
synchronic descriptions).
 Discourse: It is the use of language above and beyond the sentence; how people use
language in texts and contexts. Discourse analysis studies how sentences are patterned
in books, and how people use language in social contexts. The situational and socio-
cultural contexts of utterances are studied in discourse.
 Semiology: The study of the science of signs. Also known as semiotics.

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Linguistics: Definitions and Concepts

 Linguistics is the systematic scientific study of language. It is a discipline which

 When a law is formulated in linguistics, the following three parameters are

 What do linguists do?

Levels of Linguistic Analysis:

Dichotomies in Linguistic Analysis:

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