Prepared by Imran ullah for
presentation
Linguistics
Linguistics

the word ‘Linguistics, has been derived from Latin
‘lingua’
(tongue) and istics (knowledge or science).
Etymologically, therefore, linguistics is the scientific study
of language.

But it is the study not of one particular language but of human
language in general.

It studies language as a universal and recognizable part of
human behavior.
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It attempts to describe and analysis all its form and
manifestations.
Definition of the word Linguistics
“A language is a device that establishes sound-meaning correlation, pairing
meaning with signals to enable people to exchange ideas through
observable sequences of sounds.” Ronald W. Language, Language & Its
Structure, 1967
Henry Sweet definition about language
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“Language may be defined as the expression of thought by means of speech-sound.”
Henry Sweet, The History of Language
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Language is the most powerful, convenient and permanent means and form of
communication.
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Non-linguistics symbols such as expressive gestures, signals of various kinds, traffic
lights, road signs, flags and mathematics symbols and so on are the expression of
communication.
LINGUISTICS
Main branches of linguistics
Phonetics
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
Macrolinguistics
Psycholinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Anthropological
Computational
Scope of linguistics
Microlinguistics includes phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics
and pragmatics.
Macrolinguistics includes sociolinguistics,
Psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, stylistics, discourse analysis, computational
linguistics, cognitive linguistics, applied linguistics,etc.
Core branches of
LinguisLtinigcuisstics
L a nguag
e
Sounds words sentences meaning
Phonetics/phonology morphology syntax semantics/pragmatics
Macrolinguistics
（Peripheral branches
）Psycholinguistics:
Language + psychology
Sociolinguistics:
Language + society
Anthropological linguistics:
Language + anthropology
Computational linguistics:
Language + computer
Microlinguistics
Phonetics is the scientific study of speech sounds. It studies
how speech sounds are articulated, transmitted, and received.
Phonology is the study of how speech sounds function in a
language, it studies the ways speech sounds are organized. It
can be seen as the functional phonetics of a particular
language.
Morphology is the study of the formation of words. It is a
branch of linguistics which breaks words into morphemes. It
can be considered as the grammar of words as syntax is the
grammar of sentences.
Micro linguistics
Syntax deals with the combination of words into phrases,
clauses and sentences. It is the grammar of sentence
construction.
Semantics is a branch of linguistics which is concerned
with the study of meaning in all its formal aspects. Words
have several types of meaning.
Pragmatics can be defined as the study of language in use.
It deals with how speakers use language in ways which
cannot be predicted from linguistic knowledge alone, and
how hearers arrive at the intended meaning of speakers.
PRAGMATICS =MEANING-SEMANTICS.
Macro linguistics
Socilinguistics studies the relations between language
and society: how social factors influence the structure
and use of language.
Psycholinguistics is the study of language and mind: the
mental structures and processes which are involved in
the acquisition, comprehension and production of
language.
Neurolingistics is the study of language processing and
language representation in the brain. It typically studies
the disturbances of language comprehension and
production caused by the damage of certain areas of the
brain.
Macro linguistics
Stylistics is the study of how literary effects can be related
to linguistic features. It usually refers to the study of written
language, including literary text, but it also investigates
spoken language sometimes.
Discourse analysis, or text linguistics, is the study of the
relationship between language and the contexts in which
language is used. It deals with how sentences in spoken and
written language form larger meaningful units.
Computational linguistics is an approach to linguistics
which employs mathematical techniques, often with the help
of a computer.
Macro linguistics
Cognitive linguistics is an approach to the analysis of natural language that focuses on
language as an instrument for organizing, processing, and conveying information.
Applied linguistics is primarily concerned with the application of linguistic theories,
methods and findings to the elucidation of language problems which have arisen in
other areas of experience.
Important distinctions in linguistics
Descriptive vs.prescriptive
If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language
people actually use, it is said to be descriptive; if it aims to
lay down rules for “correct” behavior, i.e., to tell people
what they should say and what they should not say, it is
said to be prescriptive.
Descriptive vs. prescriptive
Most modern linguistics is descriptive. It attempts to
describe what people actually say. Traditional grammars
told people how to use a language.
As traditional grammars tried to lay down rules, they are
often called prescriptive.
Descriptive grammars attempt to tell what is in the
language, while prescriptive grammars tell people what
should be in the language.
Language changes and develops. The changes should be
observed and described. This does not deny that languages
have rules.
Important distinctions in linguistics
Synchronic vs. Diachronic
Language can be studied at a given point in time or over
time.
When we study language at one particular time /at some
point of time in history, it is called synchronic linguistics.
When we study language developments through time, it is
called diachronic or historical linguistics.
Synchronic linguistics focuses on the state of language at
any point in history while diachronic linguistics focuses on
the differences in two or more than two states of language
over decades or centuries.
Important distinctions in linguistics
Langue vs. Parole
The distinction made by Swiss linguist F. de Saussure in the early 20th century.
Langue and parole are French words.
Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a
speech community, and parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.
Langue is the set of conventions and rules which language users all have to abide
by, and parole is the concrete use of the conventions and the application of the
rules.
Langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use. Parole is concrete;
it refers to the naturally occurring language events.
Parole, on the other hand, refers to the act of speech. To understand the concept of
langue and parole, let us consider that you meet your friend and want to greet her.
This speech circuit will include the following steps as illustrated in the image
below.
Characteristics of
Langue/Parole
 Langue is the system of grammatical rules and societal
conventions that is practiced by a community to be able
to communicate. Parole on the other hand is an
individual act of speaking and is dependent on langue.
 Langue is universal and is a constant system. However,
Parole is heterogeneous and changes with every
individual utterance and pronunciation.
 Langue constitutes historic systems- for instance, all of
the English language since its beginning to what it is
now. Parole however, is momentary and is only a small
part of langue. It is independent of history. Parole is a
very small part of a larger system-langue.
Step 1: In your brain, the impulse to greet your friend is created.
Step 2: Your brain will generate a sound image of “hi” which is corresponding to the idea of
greeting. This is a completely psychological process.
Step 3: The brain will now send the sound-image as an impulse to all the organs that
contribute to speech such as vocal chords, tongue, mouth, etc. This is entirely a
physiological phenomenon.
Step 4: You say “hi” and the sound waves travel from your mouth to the ears of your friend.
This is a physical process.
Step 5: For your friend, the process will now be in reverse. The sound wave will now travel
from the ear of your friend to her brain. The brain will receive the sound image of “hi” . It
will then form the psychological connection between the acoustic image “hi” and the
concept of greeting.
Important distinctions in linguistics
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
Competence vs. Performance
Proposed by American linguist N. Chomsky in the late 1950’s.
Competence: the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language or competence,
according to Chomsky, is the native speaker’s knowledge of his language, the
system of rules he has mastered, his ability to produce and understand a vast number
of new sentences.
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So the speaker’s knowledge of the structure of a language is his linguistics
competence and the way in which he uses it is his linguistics performance.
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Performance: the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.
According to Chomsky, a speaker has internalized a set of rules about his language,
this enables him to produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences
and recognize sentences that are ungrammatical and ambiguous or performance is
the study of actual sentences themselves, of the actual use of the language in reallife situation. So the speaker’s knowledge of the structure of a language is his
linguistics competence and the way in which he uses it is his linguistics performance.
 Competence is, then, an underlying mental system, it underlies
actual behavior, linguistics institution ability to analyze language,
detecting ambiguities, ignoring mistakes etc.
Then, what’s the
distinction between
Chomsky’s and Saussure’s
 Although Chomsky’ competence/performance dichotomy
closely resembles to Saussure's langue/parole, yet the main
difference is that Saussure stress the sociological
implications of langue, while Chomsky stresses the
psychological implications of competence.
- These distinctions are also parallel to a distinction made
between code and message in communications engineering.
-A code is the pre-arranged signaling system. A message is
an actual message sent using that system.
Important distinctions in linguistics
Langue is a social product, and a set of conventions for
a community, while competence is deemed as a property
of the mind of each individual.
Saussure looks at language more from a sociological or
sociolinguistic point of view than Chomsky since the
latter deals with his issues psychologically or
psycholinguistically.
Thank you.
End