Overview

of
Linguistics
What is
Linguis
tics?
 Linguistics
According to University at Buffalo,
linguistics is the scientific study of
language, and its focus is the systematic
investigation of the properties of particular
languages as well as the characteristics of
language in general. It encompasses not
only the study of sound, grammar, and
meaning, but also the history of language
families, how languages are acquired by
children and adults, and how it is
connected to race and gender.
What is
Langua
ge?
 Language
Language, according to Britannica, is
a system of conventional spoken, manual
(signed), or written symbols by means of
human beings, as members of a social
group and participants in its culture,
express themselves. The functions of
language include communication, the
expression of identity, play, imaginative
expression, and emotional release.
 Characteristics of
Language
> Language is a means of communication.
> Language is arbitrary.
> Language is a system of systems.
> Language is primarily vocal.
> Language is a social phenomenon.
> Language is non-instinctive and is
conventional.
> Language is systematic.
 Characteristics of
Language
> Language is dynamic.
> Language is symbolic.
> Language is productive and creative.
> Language is human and structurally
complex.
> Language is culture.
> Language is variation.
 Some Misconceptions
about Language
> Written form of language is more
prestigious than the spoken form.
> Literary language is the only acceptable
language.
> One language is superior to another.
> Grammatical rules should be strictly
followed to preserve the purity of the
language.
> Children learn language by merely
imitation.
 Branches
of
Linguistics
(Macro Linguistics)
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Sociolinguistics
It is generally used for the study of
the relationship between society and
language. Sociolinguistics is the branch of
linguistics that deals with the effect of
society on a language. It has strong
connections with anthropology, culture,
and sociology.
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Psycholinguistics
It deals with the study of the mental
aspects of language and speech. Its
domain is concerned with how language is
represented and processed in the brain.
Psycholinguistics, study of linguistics and
psychology, is part of the field of cognitive
science.
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Neurolinguistics
It deals with the study how language
is represented in the brain, how and where
a brain stores knowledge of a language
that we speak. It focuses on what happens
in our brains as we acquire a language,
and what happens as we put this
knowledge into practice.
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Computational linguistics
It is branch of linguistics that is
concerned with the rule-based modeling of
natural language from a computational
perspective. It is the branch of linguistics
that deals with the techniques of computer
science that are applied to the analysis
and synthesis of language and speech.
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Stylistics
It is an interdisciplinary field of
linguistics that deals with the study and
interpretation of style and tones in both
written and spoken language.
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Geographical Linguistics
Also called dialect geography, is the
study of local or regional variations of a
language or dialect studied as a field of
knowledge. Language geography is the
branch of human geography that studies
the geographic distribution of language(s)
or its constituent elements.
 Interdisciplinary
Branches
Cognitive linguistics
It is an interdisciplinary field of
linguistics that deals with the study of
language, mind, and sociocultural
experience that first emerged in the
1970s. Cognitive linguistics is
characterized by a commitment to the
inseparability of meaning and form in the
study of language.
 Intradisciplinary
Branches
Theoretical linguistics
Also known as General Linguistics,
deals with concrete theories presented by
scholars of language about various aspects
concerning to linguistics. General
linguistics is devoted to the theoretical
study of describing a language and
methods of investigating linguistic
phenomena.
 Intradisciplinary
Branches
Historical linguistics
Also called diachronic linguistics, is
the scientific study of language change
over time. Principal concerns of historical
linguistics include: how and why language
changes, changes in particular languages,
history of words i.e., etymology, history of
speech communities and relation between
different language families.
 Intradisciplinary
Branches
Descriptive Linguistics
It is concerned with the description
and analysis of the ways in which a
language operates and is used by a given
set of speakers at a given time.
 Intradisciplinary
Branches
Applied Linguistics
It examines the structure of language
and its role in communication, language
acquisition, second language learning, how
the social or cultural environment interacts
with language, and structure of language
and its role in communication.
 Intradisciplinary
Branches
Comparative linguistics
It is an intra disciplinary field of
linguistics that deals with comparative
study of different languages. It is a sub-
branch of historical linguistics that is
concerned with comparing languages to
establish their historical relatedness.
Comparative linguistics is the study of
differences and similarities between
languages. Particularly, it focuses on the
comparison of related languages.
 Subfields
of
Linguistics
(Micro Linguistics)
 Phonetics
It is the study of the sounds of language. It
deals with the way sounds are produced,
transmitted and perceived by human beings.
Phonetics is further divided into three different
branches that are:
1. Articulatory phonetics: deals with the study of
articulation of speech sounds,
2. Acoustic phonetics: studies the physical
properties of sounds as transmitted from
mouth to air and then received by ear drum,
3. Auditory phonetics: deals with the study of
perpetual response to speech sounds as
 Phonology
It is the study of how sounds are
arranged in each language as organized
units of speech. It also looks into the
specifications in the distribution of sounds
into small sound in each language.
 Morphology
It deals with the forms of words, use
of words and construction of words by
small letters. It studies how words are
formed into small meaningful units
(morphemes). Morphology is divided into
two further branches: inflectional
morphology and derivational morphology.
 Syntax
It is the study of phrase construction,
clauses and sentences in a language. It
deals with basic word order followed in any
languages.
 Semantics
It is the study of meaning in a
language. It focuses on studying the
structure of meaning of words and making
a sentence that is meaningful.
 Pragmatics
It also deals with the meaning of
language but is focuses on meaning in
context rather than individual word
meanings.
Thank
You!