INGUISTICS IS:
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, and involves an analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in context
1. How is such a knowledge system structured
2. how is it acquired
3. How is it used in the production and comprehension of messages
4. How does languagge nature change over time
5. What properties do all human languages have in common? How do languages differ, and to what extent are the differences systematic, i.e. can we find patterns in the differences?
Linguistics is concerned with the nature of language and communication. It deals both with the study of particular languages, and the search for general properties common to all languages or large groups of languages. It includes the following sub areas :
Phonetics (the study of the production, acoustics and hearing of speech sounds)
Phonology (the patterning of sounds)
Morphology (the structure of words)
Semantics (meaning)
Pragmatics (language in context)
It also includes explorations into the nature of language variation (i. e., dialects), language change over time, how language is processed and stored in the brain, and how it is acquired by young children. All of these topics are examined in the coursework offered by the University of Arizona's Department of Linguistics.
Although linguistics is still largely unfamiliar to the educated public, it is a growing and exciting field, with an increasingly important impact on other fields as diverse as psychology, philosophy, education, language teaching, sociology, anthropology, computer science, and artificial intelligenc
Based on the definition of linguistics above i conclude that:
Linguistics is the knowledge that study about knowing a language it deals with sound, formation, meaning, and use of a language.
in studying the language linguistics brances to
Phonetics - the study of speech sounds in their physical aspects
Phonology - the study of speech sounds in their cognitive aspects
Morphology - the study of the formation of words
Syntax - the study of the formation of sentences
Semantics - the study of meaning
Pragmatics - the study of language use
Aside from language structure, other perspectives on language are represented in specialized or interdisciplinary branches:
- Historical Linguistics
- Sociolinguistics
- Psycholinguistics
- Ethnolinguistics (or Anthropological Linguistics)
- Dialectology
- Computational Linguistics
- Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics