What is Linguistics?

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Human language, understood as a systematic use of speech sounds, signs, and written symbols for communicating among people, is a very complicated system, which can be analyzed on different levels and from various points of view.

Branches of Linguistics

• Anthropological Linguistics: It studies language variation and usage in relation to culture.
• Applied Linguistics: It is concerned with the application of linguistic theories and their findings in solving various language problems, mostly in the teaching of a foreign language, studying language disorders, translation, lexicography, and stylistics.
• Comparative Linguistics: It studies different languages looking for similar characteristics.
• Computational Linguistics: It uses computer techniques and applies them to automatic translation and speech analysis.
• Contrastive Linguistics: It concentrates upon the differences between languages.
• Development Linguistics: It is concerned with the study of the acquisition of language by children, describing the stages and patterns of development and explaining the typical features and variations.
• Historical Linguistics: It analyses the development of language in time.
• Psycholinguistics: It is a branch of linguistics which studies the relationship between linguistic behavior and mental processes.
• Sociolinguistics: It studies the relationship between language and society, taking into consideration standard and non-standard forms of language, regional and social varieties (ethnicity, social status, sex, age, etc.)
• Theoretical Linguistics: It tries to determine universal principles for studying languages and to describe the general features of language.