From Language to Linguistics
What
is linguistics?
Linguistics
is the study of language � not just particular languages, but the system of
human communication. Some of the basic issues of this field are?
What
is language? How is it organized?
How
is it analyzed? How are its units discovered and tested?
Where
is language stored and processed in the brain? How is it learned?
What
do all languages—including nonvocal systems of communication (e.g. writing and
sign languages)—have in common? What do these properties show us about human
cognition?
How
did language originate? What does it have in common with animal communication?
How is it different?
How
many distinct families or stocks of languages are there in the 6000 or so known
languages today? What original languages did they come from? How have they
changed over time?
What
does dialectal and social variation show us about the use of language? How has
this diversity affected issues of social, political, and educational policy?
What
is the relationship between language and culture? Language and thought?
What
are some of the branches of linguistics?
applied
linguistics: application to areas such as speech pathology, reading, social
work, missionary work, translation, dictionary compilation, language teaching,
error analysis, computer language processing.
Dialectology:
investigation of regional variation in language.
Ethnolinguistics
(anthropological linguistics): investigation of the relation between a people's
language and culture.
Historical
(diachronic) linguistics: study of language change and evolution.
Morphology:
study of word formation and inflection.
Neurolinguistics:
research into the specific location of language in the brain.
Paralinguistics:
study of nonverbal (auxiliary) human communication.
Philology:
study of how language has been used in literature, especially in older
manuscripts.
Phonetics:
description of how speech sounds are articulated and heard.
Phonology:
study of how languages organize the units of speech into systems.
Pragmatics:
study of the strategies people use to carry out communicative business in
specific contexts.
Psycholinguistics:
investigation of language as cognitively-based behavior; how it is acquired and
processed.
Second
language acquisition (SLA): study of how older learners acquire language, and
of ways to improve it.
Sociolinguistics:
study of social variation in language: the relation between social structure
and language usage, and of social issues involving language.
Semantics:
study of word and sentence meaning.
Syntax:
study of the structure of sentences and of underlying principles for generating
and processing them.
How is linguistics applied?
Many
students find linguistics useful because it broadens and deepens their
understanding of related fields: languages and literature (English and
foreign), social sciences (especially anthropology, sociology, and psychology),
education, philosophy, communication... Those who obtain degrees in linguistics
often proceed to careers in:
· foreign
language teaching
· instructional
technology
· ESL
(teaching English as a second language)
· teaching
and research in general linguistics (phonology, syntax...)
· translation
(human and machine-assisted)
· speech
pathology and audiology.
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