Difference between revisions of "Linguistics"

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[[Image:Language.jpg|left|thumb|"image from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, by David Crystal, Cambridge University Press, 1995 & 2003", for more information, see:[http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521530334]]]
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[[Image:Language.jpg|right|frame|<center>[https://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521559676 Cambridge Ency. of Language]</center><center>by [[David Crystal]]</center>]]
'''Linguistics''' is a discipline that looks at the cognitive and social aspects of human language. The field is traditionally divided into areas that focus on particular aspects of the linguistic signal, such as [[syntax]] (the study of the rules that govern the structure of sentences), [[semantics]] (the study of meaning), [[phonetics]] (the study of speech sounds) and [[phonology]] (the study of the abstract sound system of a particular language); however, work in areas like [[evolutionary linguistics]] (the study of the origins and evolution of language) and [[psycholinguistics]] (the study of psychological factors in human language) cut across these divisions.
 
  
The overwhelming majority of modern research in linguistics takes a predominantly [[synchronic]] perspective (focusing on language at a particular point in time), and a great deal of it&mdash;partly owing to the influence of [[Noam Chomsky]] aims at formulating theories of the cognitive processing of language. However, language does not exist in a vacuum, or only in the brain, and approaches like contact linguistics, [[creole]] studies, [[discourse analysis]], social interactional linguistics, and [[sociolinguistics]] explore language in its social context. Sociolinguistics often makes use of traditional quantitative analysis and [[statistics]] in investigating the frequency of features, while some disciplines, like contact linguistics, focus on qualitative analysis. While certain areas of linguistics can thus be understood as clearly falling within the social sciences, other areas, like [[acoustic phonetics]] and [[neurolinguistics]], draw on the natural sciences.  Linguistics draws only secondarily on the humanities, which played a rather greater role in linguistic inquiry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. [[Ferdinand Saussure]] is considered the father of modern linguistics.
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'''Linguistics''' is the [[scientific method|scientific]] study of [[language]], encompassing a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure ([[grammar]]) and the study of [[meaning]] ([[semantics]]). Grammar encompasses [[morphology]] (the formation and composition of [[word]]s), [[syntax]] (the rules that determine how words combine into [[phrase]]s and [[sentences]]) and [[phonology]] (the study of sound systems and abstract sound units). [[Phonetics]] is a related branch of linguistics concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds ([[phone]]s), non-speech sounds, and how they are produced and [[speech perception|perceived]]
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Over the twentieth century, following the work of [https://www.chomsky.info Noam Chomsky ], linguistics came to be dominated by the [[Generative grammar|Generativist school]], which is chiefly concerned with explaining how human beings [[language acquisition|acquire language]] and the biological constraints on this acquisition. Generative theory is [[Language module|modularist]] in character. While this remains the dominant paradigm, Chomsky's writings have also gathered much criticism, and other linguistic theories have increasingly gained popularity; [[cognitive linguistics]] is a prominent example. There are many sub-fields in linguistics, which may or may not be dominated by a particular theoretical approach: [[evolutionary linguistics]] attempts to account for the origins of language; [[historical linguistics]] explores language change and [[sociolinguistics]] looks at the relation between linguistic variation and social structures.
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A variety of [[intellect|intellectual]] disciplines are relevant to the study of language. Although certain linguists have downplayed the relevance of some other fields [https://www.chomsky.info/books/architecture01.htm Interview with Noam Chomsky], linguistics, like other sciences is highly interdisciplinary and draws on work from such fields as [[psychology]], [[informatics]], [[computer science]], [[philosophy]], [[biology]], [[human anatomy]], [[neuroscience]], [[sociology]], [[anthropology]], and [[acoustics]]. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics]
  
 
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[[Category: Linguistics]]

Latest revision as of 01:21, 13 December 2020

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Linguistics is the scientific study of language, encompassing a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure (grammar) and the study of meaning (semantics). Grammar encompasses morphology (the formation and composition of words), syntax (the rules that determine how words combine into phrases and sentences) and phonology (the study of sound systems and abstract sound units). Phonetics is a related branch of linguistics concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds (phones), non-speech sounds, and how they are produced and perceived.

Over the twentieth century, following the work of Noam Chomsky , linguistics came to be dominated by the Generativist school, which is chiefly concerned with explaining how human beings acquire language and the biological constraints on this acquisition. Generative theory is modularist in character. While this remains the dominant paradigm, Chomsky's writings have also gathered much criticism, and other linguistic theories have increasingly gained popularity; cognitive linguistics is a prominent example. There are many sub-fields in linguistics, which may or may not be dominated by a particular theoretical approach: evolutionary linguistics attempts to account for the origins of language; historical linguistics explores language change and sociolinguistics looks at the relation between linguistic variation and social structures.

A variety of intellectual disciplines are relevant to the study of language. Although certain linguists have downplayed the relevance of some other fields Interview with Noam Chomsky, linguistics, like other sciences is highly interdisciplinary and draws on work from such fields as psychology, informatics, computer science, philosophy, biology, human anatomy, neuroscience, sociology, anthropology, and acoustics. [1]