Outline of linguistics


The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to linguistics:
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. Linguistics can be theoretical or applied.

Branches of linguistics

Subfields of linguistics

Sub-fields of structure-focused linguistics include:
  • Phonetics – the study of the physical properties of speech production and perception
  • Phonology – the study of sounds as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker's mind that distinguish meaning
  • Morphology – the study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified
  • Syntax – study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences
  • Semantics – the study of the meaning of words and fixed word combinations, and how these compose to form the meanings of sentences
  • Pragmatics – the study of how utterances are used in communicative acts – and the role played by context and nonlinguistic knowledge in the transmission of meaning

    Subfields, by nonlinguistic factors studied

  • Applied linguistics – the study of language-related issues applied in everyday life, notably language policies, planning, and education.
  • Biolinguistics – the study of the biological and evolutionary components of human language
  • Clinical linguistics – application of linguistic theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology
  • Computational linguistics – the study of linguistic issues in a way that is 'computationally responsible', i.e., taking careful note of computational consideration of algorithmic specification and computational complexity, so that the linguistic theories devised can be shown to exhibit certain desirable computational properties implementations
  • Developmental linguistics – the study of the development of linguistic ability in individuals, particularly the acquisition of language in childhood
  • Historical linguistics – the study of language change over time. Also called diachronic linguistics
  • Language geography – the study of the geographical distribution of languages and linguistic features
  • Neurolinguistics – the study of the structures in the human brain that underlie grammar and communication
  • Psycholinguistics – the study of the cognitive processes and representations underlying language use
  • Sociolinguistics – the study of variation in language and its relationship with social factors
  • Stylistics – the study of linguistic factors that place a discourse in context

    Other subfields of linguistics

  • Contrastive linguistics – an approach which seeks to analyze a pair of languages via their similarities and differences
  • Corpus linguistics – an empirical linguistic methodology that aims to study language by using large, searchable, annotated databases
  • Dialectology – the study of language dialects, i.e, subsets of a language
  • Discourse analysis – an approach that studies language as it is naturally used and constituted within discourses, with discourses considered generally as semiotic structures
  • Grammar – the system of rules and principles governing the composition and usage of a language
  • Interlinguistics – the study of auxiliary and planned languages for the facilitation of communication between speakers of different languages and their design
  • Language acquisition – process by which an individual acquires their first language
  • Language education – teaching specific language and language science
  • Language for specific purposes – the study of language learning in context of highly specific goals and purposes for which the language is learnt, particularly in education and applied linguistcs
  • Lexicology – the study of the lexicon of a given language and its structure
  • Orthography – sets of conventions for writing a language, including spelling, punctuation, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and emphasis
  • Rhetoric – the study of the techniques by which language can be used to persuade
  • Text linguistics – an approach that views texts as communicative systems, particularly focusing on the study of texts as a whole

    Schools, movements, and approaches of linguistics

  • Cognitive linguistics
  • Danish functional linguistics
  • Functionalism
  • Generative grammar
  • Geneva School
  • Interactional linguistics
  • Kazan School
  • Neogrammarian
  • Prague linguistic circle
  • Prescription and description
  • Soviet linguistics
  • Stratificational linguistics
  • Structural linguistics
  • Systemic functional linguistics
  • Tagmemics

    Related fields

  • Semiotics – the study of the relationship between signs and what they signify more broadly. From the perspective of semiotics, language can be seen as a sign or symbol, with the world as its representation.
  • Terminology – the study of terms and their use
  • * Terminology science – the study of special vocabulary
  • Philosophy of language – takes a philosophical approach to language. Many formal semanticists are philosophers of language, differing from linguist semanticists only in their metaphysical assumptions.
  • * Philosophical logic
  • *Topic / Theme
  • *Discourse

    History of linguistics

Timeline of discovery of basic linguistics concepts

When were the basic concepts first described and by whom?
  1. What is language?
  2. How did it/does it evolve?
  3. How does language serve as a medium of communication?
  4. How does language serve as a medium of thinking?
  5. What is common to all languages?
  6. How do languages differ?

    Basic concepts

What basic concepts / terms do I have to know to talk about linguistics?