Note: Linguistics level / branches of Linguistics/ subfield of linguists all comes under this topic.

Branches of Linguistics |

Micro Linguistics vs Macro Linguistics

Linguistics is defined as the scientific study of language. First we should know that what is language?
Language is a method of communication across human beings, either written or spoken, consisting of
the use of words in a structured way. In simple words, language is a method of expression or
communication.

How Robins (1985) defined linguistics:

According to Robins (1985), “Linguistics is concerned with human language as a universal and
recognizable part of the human behavior and human faculties, perhaps one of the most essential parts
of the human life as we know it and as one of the far-reaching of human capabilities, in relation to the
whole span of mankind’s achievements.”

Main Branches of Linguistics

From various point of views, linguistics is divided into two main branches:

1. Micro Linguistics
2. Macro Linguistics

These both branches of linguistics are divide into further various branches. We will discuss all
branches with brief definition.

Micro Linguistics and its Different Branches

(Level of Linguistics are same as Micro Linguistics branches )

Micro linguistics focuses on the study of language itself, including its sound (phonetics and
phonology) grammatical structures (morphology), syntax, and meanings (semantics) in context
(pragmatics).

Phonetics

Phonetics is the study of the sounds of language. It deals with the way sounds are produced,
transmitted and perceived by human beings. Phonetics is further divided into three different branches
that are:

1. Articulatory phonetics: deals with the study of articulation of speech sounds,

2. Acoustic phonetics: studies the physical properties of sounds as transmitted from mouth to air and
then received by ear drum,

3. Auditory phonetics: deals with the study of perpetual response to speech sounds as mediated by ear,
auditory nerve and brain.

Phonology
 Phonology is the study of how sounds are arranged in each language as organized units of speech. It
also looks into the specifications in the distribution of sounds into small sound in each language.

Morphology

Morphology deals with the forms of words, use of words and construction of words by small letters.
It studies how words are formed into small meaningful units (morphemes). Morphology is divided into
two further branches: inflectional morphology and derivational morphology.

Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in a language. It focuses on studying the structure of meaning of
words and making a sentence that is meaningful.

Pragmatics

Pragmatics also deals with the meaning of language but is focuses on meaning in context rather than
individual word meanings.

Syntax

Syntax is the study of phrase construction, clauses and sentences in a language. It deals with basic
word order followed in any languages.

Macro Linguistics

Fields of Linguistics

Macro-linguistics takes a broad view of linguistic phenomena, studying language in different context
and its development over time. Macro-linguistics includes study of other disciplines that are connected
with language study in any perspective e.g. the study of relation between society and linguistics is
sociolinguistics.

Macro-linguistics is further divided into Intra disciplinary branches of linguistics and Intra disciplinary
branches of linguistics.

Inter Disciplinary Branches of Macro Linguistics

Inter disciplinary branches of linguistics deals with study of linguistics with relation to other
disciplines as sociology, psychology, neurology, geography, etc. Below are inter-disciplinary branches of
macro linguistics.

Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics is generally used for the study of the relationship between society and language.
Sociolinguistics is the branch of linguistics that deals with the effect of society on a language. It has
strong connections with anthropology, culture, and sociology.

Psycholinguistics
 Psycholinguistics deals with the study of the mental aspects of language and speech. Its domain is
concerned with how language is represented and processed in the brain. Psycholinguistics, study of
linguistics and psychology, is part of the field of cognitive science.

Neurolinguistics

Neurolinguistics deals with the study how language is represented in the brain, how and where a
brain stores knowledge of a language that we speak. It focuses on what happens in our brains as we
acquire a language, and what happens as we put this knowledge into practice.

Computational Linguistics

Computational linguistics is branch of linguistics that is concerned with the rule-based modeling of
natural language from a computational perspective. It is the branch of linguistics that deals with the
techniques of computer science that are applied to the analysis and synthesis of language and speech.

Stylistics

Stylistics is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics that deals with the study and interpretation of
style and tones in both written and spoken language.

Geographical Linguistics

Geography Linguistic also called dialect geography is study of local or regional variations of a
language or dialect studied as a field of knowledge. Language geography is the branch of human
geography that studies the geographic distribution of language(s) or its constituent elements.

Cognitive Linguistics

Cognitive linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics that deals with the study of language,
mind, and sociocultural experience that first emerged in the 1970s. Cognitive linguistics is characterized
by a commitment to the inseparability of meaning and form in the study of language.

Intra Disciplinary Branches of Linguistics

DISCIPLINE OF LINGUISTICS

Intra disciplinary branches of linguistics deal with the study of linguistics within its own discipline.
Below are the intra disciplinary branches of macro linguistics.

Theoretical Linguistics

Theoretical linguistics also known as General Linguistics deals with concrete theories presented by
scholars of language about various aspects concerning to linguistics. General linguistics is devoted to the
theoretical study of describing a language and methods of investigating linguistic phenomena.

Historical Linguistics

Historical linguistics, also called diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over
time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include: how and why language changes, changes in
particular languages, history of words i.e., etymology, history of speech communities and relation
between different language families.
Descriptive Linguistics

Descriptive Linguistics is concerned with the description and analysis of the ways in which a language
operates and is used by a given set of speakers at a given time.

Applied Linguistics

Applied Linguistics examines the structure of language and its role in communication, language
acquisition, second language learning, how the social or cultural environment interacts with language,
and structure of language and its role in communication.

Comparative Linguistics

Comparative linguistics is an intra disciplinary field of linguistics that deals with comparative study
of different languages. It is a sub-branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing
languages to establish their historical relatedness. Comparative linguistics is the study of differences and
similarities between languages. Particularly it focuses on the comparison of related languages.

Answer Key:

Linguistics Questions and Answers

Q.1. What is Psycholinguistics?

Ans. Psycholinguistics is the study of the understanding and production of language in its spoken and
written forms. It covers the thought processes that make it possible to create a meaningful sentence out
of words and the processes that make it possible to understand words.

Q.2. What are the similarities between sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics?

Ans. Socio-linguistics: studies the relation of language to society

Psycho-linguistics: studies the relation of language to psychology.

Q.3. What is Sociolinguistics?

Ans. Sociolinguistics is the study of all aspects of society. It studies the relationship between language
and different social factors such as class, sex, age and ethnicity.

Q.4. What are the goals of Sociolinguistics?

Ans. The goals of Sociolinguistics are:

1. the social as well as the linguistic

2. socially realistic linguistics

3. socially constituted linguistics

Q.5. What is the purpose of Sociolinguistics?

Q.6. What does Syntax Mean?

Ans. Syntax is basically a particular pattern of the formation of sentences, or phrases in any given
language. It deals with the grammatical arrangement of words.

Q.7. What is a Syntax Error?

Ans. A syntax error is used to refer to an error in the sequence of characters in coding. Programs will not
compile languages until all syntax errors are corrected.

Q.8. What is Phonetics?

Ans. Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech.

Q.9. What is Morphology?

Ans. Morphology is the study of formation and functions of words.

Q.10. Is abbreviation a long word?

Ans. Abbreviation, in itself, is not an abbreviation, so obviously it is not going to be small, and concise,
but more of a broad word. The long word “abbreviation” starts from the short word ‘brevis’ meaning
‘brief’.

Q.11. What are some disadvantages of the English language?

Ans. A much more serious disadvantage for learners of English is the extent of the vocabulary. We often
have many words for the same concept. Another disadvantage of English is its reliance on rigid word
order for meaning.

Q.12. What Is the Difference between Descriptive and Prescriptive Grammar?

Ans. Both kinds of grammar are concerned with rules- but in different ways. Specialists in descriptive
grammar study the rules or patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. On
the other hand, prescriptive grammarians lay out rules about what they believe to be the “correct” or
“incorrect” use of language.

Q.13. What are phonemes?

Ans. Phonemes include all significant differences of sound, including features of voicing, place and
manner of articulation, accent, and secondary features of nasalization, glottalization, labialization, and
the like.

Q.14. What is auditory phonetics?

Ans. Phonetics studies speech sounds according to their production in the vocal organs (articulatory
phonetics), their physical properties (acoustic phonetics), or their effect on the ear (auditory phonetics)

Q.15. What are articulatory phonetics?

Q.16. What is acoustic phonetics?

Ans. Phonetics studies speech sounds according to their production in the vocal organs (articulatory
phonetics), their physical properties (acoustic phonetics), or their effect on the ear (auditory phonetics)

Q.17. What is the International Phonetic Alphabet?

Ans. Systems of phonetic writing are aimed at the accurate transcription of any sequence of speech
sounds; the best known is the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Q.18. What is stylistics?

Ans. Stylistics is the study of style and the methods used in written and spoken languages.

Q.19. What is Graphology?

Ans. Graphology is the study of handwriting. Graphology usually focuses on determining a person’s
mood or personality based on the way they write.

Q.20. What influence has Noam Chomsky had on psycholinguistics?

Ans. The work of Noam Chomsky and other proponents of transformational grammar have had a
marked influence on the field.

Q.21. What additional studies are involved in psycholinguistics?

Ans. Most problems in psycholinguistics are more concrete, involving the study of linguistic performance
and language acquisition, especially in children.

Q.22. What relationship is of particular importance to psycholinguists?

Ans. Psycholinguists investigate the relationship between language and thought, a perennial subject of
debate being whether language is a function of thinking or thought a function of the use of language.