Linguistics
When you study linguistics at any level, you gain insight into one of the most fundamental parts of being human- the ability to communicate through language. You can study every aspect of language from functional theory to language acquisition, and computational linguistics to psycholinguistics. Studying linguistics enables you to understand how language works, and how it is used, developed and preserved over time.
Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain
What is Linguistics?
Linguists are not only polyglots, grammarians, and word lovers. They are researchers dedicated to the systematic study of language who apply the scientific method by making observations, testing hypotheses, and developing theories. The science of language encompasses more than sounds, grammar, and meaning. When you study linguistics, you are at the crossroads of every discipline.
Some of these researches even go on to understand how languages evolde
A very old teacher view on “What is Linguistics?”
It is also important to know the concept of language. Here Noam Chomsky an eminent American theoretical linguist, cognitive scientist and philosopher, who radically changed the arena of linguistics by assuming language as a uniquely human, biologically based cognitive capacity suggests that innate traits in the human brain give birth to both language and grammar.
And there are of course misconceptions about Linguistics.
Academia is a conventional path for linguists. Academic linguists devote themselves to a life of science, and after much training often become university professors. They share their love of linguistics with like-minded undergraduate students and conduct research that is essential to the field, sharing their results with the scientific community through publications, lectures, and conferences.
Those who specialize in computational approaches to linguistic problems may work in the computer industry on issues of speech recognition, speech synthesis, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, or computer-mediated language learning. These linguists provide vital skills and expertise in the technology sector.
Some linguists use their abilities and training to work in government. Linguists’ analytical skills are in high demand to conduct research, provide language-related technological services, and contribute important insight on issues of law, policy, and education.
With their training in the mechanics of languages, linguists have a strong advantage in the field of language education. Language educators may teach their native or a foreign language at any level. A degree in linguistics is a good background for those pursuing English as a Second Language (ESL) or Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) credentials. Linguists involved in education are not restricted to teaching; they also develop educational materials, train language teachers, develop standardized testing materials, and find means to assess acquisition and more effectively teach language.
There are also a number of important causes that are shouldered by activism-minded linguists. Linguists work to document, analyze, and preserve endangered languages by conducting fieldwork and establishing literacy programs. This type of work can be highly rewarding for linguists collaborating with language communities around the world to help revitalize their languages.
A few important dates on Linguistics:
Phase 1: The emergence of modern linguistics (1911–33)
1911 Saussure’s third (final) lecture series in Geneva
Boas’s ‘Introduction’ to Handbook of American Indian Languages
1912 Daniel Jones becomes Head of Department of Phonetics, University of London
1913 Death of Saussure (1857–1913)
1914 Bloomfield’s Introduction to the Study of Language
1916 Saussure’s Cours de linguistique générale
1921 Sapir’s Language
1924 Linguistic Society of America founded
1925 First volume of the journal, Language
1928 First International Congress of Linguists (The Hague)
1932 First International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (Amsterdam)
1933 Bloomfield’s Language
Phase 2: A time of transition (c. 1925–60)
1923 Malinowski’s ‘The problem of meaning in primitive languages’
1926 Linguistic Circle of Prague founded
1938 Death of Trubetzkoy (1890–1938)
1939 Trubetzkoy’s Grundzüge der Phonologie
Death of Sapir (1884–1939)
1941 Death of Whorf (1897–1941)
1942 Death of Boas (1858–1942)
1944 J.R. Firth becomes Professor of General Linguistics, University of London
1949 Death of Bloomfield (1887–1949)
1951 Harris’s Methods in Structural Linguistics
1953 Weinreich’s Languages in Contact
1956 Jakobson and Halle’s Fundamentals of Language
1957 Chomsky’s Syntactic Structures
Phase 3: The expansion and diversification of linguistics (since 1960)
1961 Halliday’s ‘Categories of the theory of grammar’
1963 Greenberg’s Universals of Language
1965 Chomsky’s Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
1966 Labov’s The Social Stratification of English in New York City
1973 Halliday’s Explorations in the Functions of Language
1978 Halliday’s Language as Social Semiotic
1981 Chomsky’s Lectures on Government and Binding
1985 Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar
1986 Chomsky’s Knowledge of Language
1995 Chomsky’s The Minimalist Program