Different Branches Of Linguistics

M.A English-NUML (20112013) Linguistics & Literature S.M.Jamaal-021

Morphology

Grammar

Syntax

.
Linguistics

Lexicology & Semantics Variational Linguistics Contrastive Linguistics NeuroLinguistics Discourse Analysis Text Linguistics Stylistics Sociolinguistics

Dialectology

Socio linguistics Ethno linguistics

MacroLinguistics

Computational Linguistics

applied vs. general/theoretical

MicroLinguistics or Core Linguistics

Synchronic vs. Historical/Diachronic & comparative

Phonetics & Phonology

Linguistics Tree

Approaches to Language Prescriptivism

Descriptivism

Prescriptivists believe that English is governed by a set f rules which dictate a proper & correct use of language. They believe that if the rules are not obeyed, the speaker or writer is wrong. The form of English they see as correct has a high social prestigeit is associated with formal written & spoken language & is used in dictionaries, grammar, books & language handbooks.

Descriptivists observe language as it is spoken or written in different situations. They aim to describe the ways in which language varies according to the user, the use & the context. Descriptivists recognise the need for a standard form of language as a point of comparison. Although they believe that some usage is wrong (I in live town the), they are more interested in describing variations from the standard as nonstandard than as incorrect.

Approaches to Language Prescriptivism

Descriptivism

Because priscriptivists regard one particular form of English as the best, they dislike linguistic change. They see it as a process of decay which erodes standards & leads to a debased form of English.

Descriptivists see linguistic change as inevitable. They recognise that a living language cannot be fixed, but will adapt to meet the demands of its users.

Approaches to Language Prescriptivism

Descriptivism

The grammarian task is to prescribe(to say what should be done or how something should be done) correct usage for masses. Prescriptive scholars work contain subjectivity i.e. they laid down rule that are often based on Latin & Greek, classical works, the origin of particular word, logic, or simply on their own personal likes & dislikes. They are criticised for not taking sufficient account of ongoing change & stylistic variation.

Descriptive linguists describe language objectively & systematically. They observe & analyse language as it is used naturally in any given speech community. They attempt to discover the rules & regularities of the underlying language system, or code.

Language for Linguists

Prescriptivism

Descriptivism

A.

B.

For linguists language has two meanings Swiss linguist Ferdinand De Saussure (1857-1913) proposed the French terms: Parole: actual knowledge use (i.e. concrete(based on facts not on ideas or guesses) utterances) Langue: speech communitys shared knowledge of a language (i.e. for the language system)

Linguistics
Prescriptivism
An English speaker, speaking English correctly. In it, speaking of English is used as a knowledge i.e. parole; how correctly he is speaking? is the langue of that person

Descriptivism .

Linguistics
Prescriptivism

Descriptivism .

A.

B.

American linguist Noam Chomsky, put more emphasis on the individual nature of language, & used the terms: Performance: the actual language use of an individual speaker Competence : individual speakers knowledge of the language Chomsky later replaced these terms with E(xternalised)-language & I(nternalised)-language, which are rarely used.

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics

Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics

1)

2)

The system or structure of a language (langue or competence) can be described at four different levels, which form the core areas of linguistics, sometimes called microlinguistics: Phonetics & Phonology: deal with pronunciation, or, more precisely, with speech sounds and the sound system. Morphology: Covers the structure of the words.

1)

2)

Most of these are interdisciplinary fields because they overlap with other sciences. The first four branches are concerned with language variation, labeled Variational Linguistics: Dialectology: It is at the interface between linguistics & geography. It is the study of regional variation within a language. Sociolinguistics: Connects linguistics with sociology.

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics
3)

Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics

It is concerned with language variation according to age, sex, social class etc. 3) Ethnolinguistics: it overlaps with anthropology & investigates language variation & the part language plays in ethnic groups. These three branches study the way language is used in different speech communities. By referring it sociolinguistic, it is used as a superordinate term in broader sense.

4)

Syntax: Explains sentence patterns. Lexicology & Semantics: Describe the vocabulary , or lexicon(all the words & phrases used in a particular language), &explore different aspects of meaning.

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics
Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics
The language variety spoken in a particular speech community is referred to as lect. Thus we speak of dialect, sociolects, & ethnolects. The characteristic speech of an individual person is called an idiolect. 4) Discourse Analysis, text linguistics, & stylistics: are related branches that also deal with language variation. Unlike the first three branches, however, ..

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics
Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics
4)

they do not look at the way language is used in different speech communities, but rather at the language characteristics of different text types, especially beyond the sentence level. The language of these text types is communicated either through the medium of speech (e.g. personal conversations, broadcast discussions, lectures) or through the medium of .

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics
Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics
4)

writing (e.g. personal letters, newspaper articles, academic papers). And even though linguists are primarily interested in spoken language, one important field of study, which connects linguistics with literary science, is the characteristic use of language in works of literature.

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics
Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics
Next four branches of linguistics are not concerned with language variation. 5) Contrastive Linguistics: It describe the similarities and differences between two or more modern languages, especially in order to improve language teaching & translation. 6) Psycholinguistics: Overlaps with psychology & explores mental aspects of language, such as language learning.

Linguistics
The Four Core Areas of (Micro)Linguistics
Other Branches of (Macro) Linguistics
7)

8)

Neurolinguistics: Overlaps with the medical science & investigates the connection between language & the nervous system. It is especially interested in the neurological processes necessary to produce speech sounds and in language disorders. Computational Linguistics: overlaps with artificial intelligence. Some of its concerns are machine translation, automatic speech recognition, and speech simulation.

Linguistics

9)

10)

Applied Linguistics: The four core areas and all the other branches of linguistics mentioned so far extend their insights to various other domains. The practical application of these linguistic findings, for example to the field of foreign language teaching, is called applied linguistics. This term is contrasted with general or theoretical linguistics, which denotes a more theoretical orientation, but is not usually considered a separate branch. Synchronic linguistics: [from Greek sun khronos, together with time] In the four core areas & in the branches 1-4, linguists usually study the state of a language or variety at different points in time. E.g. present-day English or English at the time of Shakespeare

Linguistics

11)

12)

Historical or Diachronic Linguistics [from Greek dia khoronos, through time] : When linguistics may study & compare the states of a language at different points in time it is called diachronic linguistics. It connects linguistics with history & is concerned with language change & with the origin of words. Comparative Linguistics: It also compares the states of languages or varieties at different points in time, but uses its findings to study the historical relations between different languages. Diachronic linguistics overlaps with comparative linguistics.

Linguistics

Finally, it is important to note that the various linguistic subdisciplines can hardly be kept apart, and that the borders between them are often blurred. If, for example, we were doing a study of the use of the s-genitive (as in the girl's father) and the o/-genitive (as in the father of the girl) in working-class speech in London over the past two hundred years, we would be doing morphology, syntax, sociolinguistics, dialectology, and historical linguistics at the same time.

Linguistics

THE END