Definition. Nature and Scope of Linguistics

Linguistics is a growing and interesting area of study, having a direct hearing on fields as diverse as education, anthropology, sociology, language teaching, cognitive psychology and philosophy. What is linguistics? Fundamentally, it is concerned with the nature of language and communication.

Some of the definitions of linguistics are as under:

1.                  “Linguistics observes language in action as a means for determining how language has developed, how it functions today, and how it is currently evolving.” (G. Duffy)

2.                  “Linguistics is concerned with the nature of human language, how it is learned and what part it plays in the life of the individual and the community.” (S. Pit Corder)

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. By this we mean language in general, not a particular language.

empirical and objective. Science must also provide explanation after adequate observation of data, which should be consistent, i.e. there should be no contradictions between different parts of the explanation or statement; and economical, i.e. a precise and non-redundant manner of statement is to be preferred.Let us apply these criteria of science to linguistics.

We can represent these levels in the following manner, with each level of analysis corresponding to each level of the structure of the language:

Levels of Analysis                 Levels of Structure

Phonetics and Phonology     SOUND

                                          Letters (Graphology)

Morphology                           WORD FORMATION

Syntax                                    SENTENCE-FORMATION

Semantics                              MEANINGS

Discourse                               CONNECTED SENTENCES
Phonology studies the combination of sounds into organised units of speech, the formation of syllables and larger units. It describes the sound system of a particular language and the combination and distribution of sounds which occur in that language. Classification is made on the basis of the concept of the phoneme, i.e. a distinctive, contrasted sound unit, e.g. /m/, //, /p/.
Syntax is the level at which we study how words combine to form phrases, phrases combine to form clauses and clauses join to make sentences. The study of syntax also involves the description of the rules of positioning of elements in the sentence such as the nouns/noun syntax phrases, verbs/verb phrases, adverbial phrases, etc
Semantics deals with the level of meaning in language. It attempts to analyse the structure of meaning in a language, e.g. how words similar or different are related; it attempts to show these inter-relationships through forming ‘categories’. Semantics tries to give an account of both word and sentence meaning, and attempts to analyse and define that which is considered to be abstract.  

(a) Psycholinguistics

Since language is a mental phenomenon, it is mental processes which are articulated in language behaviour. Psycholinguistics studies these mental processes, processes of thought and concept formation and their articulation in language, which reveal a great deal about the structures of human psychology as well as of language. ‘Cognitive’ psychology is the area which explores how meanings are understood by the human brain, how syntax and memory are linked, how messages are ‘decoded’ and stored. Psycholinguistics also studies the influence of psychological factors such as intelligence, motivation, anxiety etc.
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