What is linguistics

关于《什么是语言学》的具体内容分析，一张图带你完全了解相关内容，通过思维导图帮你提高效率，赶紧来试一试吧~

What is linguistics?

• Definition
  • Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.
• The scope of linguistics
  • The main branches within linguistics
    • phonetics
      • The study of sounds used in linguistic communication.
    • phonology
      • The study of how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.
    • morphology
      • The study of the way in which the symbols are arranged and combined to form words.
    • syntax
      • The study of the rules that govern the combination of words to form sentences.
    • semantics
      • The study of the meaning.
    • pragmatics
      • The study of the meaning in the context of language use.
  • The interdisciplinary branches
    • sociolinguistics
      • The studies of all these social aspects of language and its relation with society.
    • psycholinguistics
      • The study of language to psychology.
    • applied linguistics
      • The study of such applications.
• Some important distinctions in linguistics
  • Prescriptive vs. descriptive
    • If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the langusge people actually use,it is said to be descriptive.
    • If the linguistic study aims to lay down rules to tell what that should say and what they should not say,it is said to be prescriptive.
  • synchronic vs. diachronic
    • The description of a language at some points of time in history is a synchronic study.
    • The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study.
  • Speech and writing
    • 1.From the point of view of linguistic evolution,speech is prior to writing.
    • 2.In everyday communication,speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.
  • Langue and parole
    • Presenter:F. de Sauussure(from a sociological view of language)
    • Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.
    • Parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.
  • Competence and performance
    • Presenter:N. Chomsky(from a psychological view of language)
    • Competence refers to the ideal user's knowledge of the rules of his language.
    • Performance refers to the actual realization of this knowledge in lingusitic communication.
  • Traditional grammar and modern linguistics
    • The beginning of modern linguistics was marked by the publication of F. de Saussure's book "Course in General Linguistics"
    • 1.Linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.
    • 2.Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary,not the written.
    • 3.Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-bsed framework.