International Journal Of Literature And Languages
36
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue01 2025
PAGE NO.
36-38
10.37547/ijll/Volume05Issue01-09
Linguistics: from the science of human language to its
disciplines and applications
Muminova Aziza Arslonovna
Dosent, Doctor in Philology, Uzbek State World Languages University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Received:
23 October 2024;
Accepted:
25 December 2024;
Published:
27 January 2025
Abstract:
Linguistics is the science that studies human language in all its forms, focusing on the structure,
evolution, and functions of languages. This article provides an overview of the various branches of linguistics, such
as phonetics, phonology, lexicology, grammar (morphology and syntax), semantics, pragmatics, as well as more
specialized fields like cognitive linguistics, paralinguistics, and psycholinguistics. It also discusses the historical
developments of the discipline, including the emergence of major linguistic schools and the development of
applied linguistics in the 20th century, influenced by technological advances. Finally, it describes several sub-
disciplines, such as comparative linguistics, linguistic typology, and dialectology, which allow for the analysis of
languages through different synchronic and diachronic perspectives. This analysis highlights the importance of
linguistics in understanding language and human communication across time and space.
Keywords:
Linguistics, Human Language, Communication, Language Science, Linguistic Typology, Linguistic
Universals.
Introduction:
The Grand Encyclopedic Dictionary of
Linguistics provides the following definition of the
science of linguistics: "Linguistics is the science of
human natural language in general and of all the
world's languages as individual representatives".
Linguistics, in a broad sense, is concerned with the
understanding of language and the communication of
this knowledge to others for practical purposes. It is
interesting to note that the term "Linguistics" was first
used in the scientific field in 1847, while the word
"linguist" (in the sense of "student of language") dates
back two centuries earlier.
Linguistics itself began to be formalized as a distinct
science only in the XVII and XVIII centuries, due to its
great complexity and the lack of knowledge about the
language-object of this science.
In the XIX and XX centuries, there was an expansion of
research in the field of linguistics; there were famous
linguistic schools (in America, Prague, Copenhagen,
Moscow, etc.). Ferdinand de Saussure made a huge
contribution to the theory of linguistics, which
developed the foundations of structuralism or
structural linguistics, and advanced the theory of
language and speech.
The practical orientation, now called "Applied
Linguistics," began to develop actively in the mid-XX
\\century in connection with the advent of computer
technology and the improvement of technical means.
The history of linguistics as a science, as well as the
history of different linguistic schools and the stages of
the evolution of linguistic theories, will be analyzed in
depth in the course "History of Linguistic Teachings."
Linguistics studies the different aspects of language,
considering them within its distinct scientific domains.
For example, phonetics and phonology are sub-
disciplines of linguistics that focus on the study of the
sound system of language and its functional
characteristics.
Lexicology studies the composition of a language's
vocabulary and patterns of its development. Grammar,
as the science of methods and means of constructing
and modifying words, as well as methods and means of
constructing sentences, is divided into two areas:
morphology and syntax. Morphology is the doctrine of
methods and means of constructing and modifying
words. Syntax is the doctrine of methods and means of
constructing sentences. Semantics is the science of the
meaning of words and sentences, parts of speech, and
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
sentence constituents. Pragmatics examines the
conditions and objectives of communication that affect
understanding, which is called "language learning in
context," the study of the relationships between
language means and those who use these means.
Discourse studies and analyzes the characteristics of
vocabulary, syntax, semantics, or pragmatics of
linguistic
units,
which
manifest
in
actual
communication acts, speech, and written texts (e.g.,
sports discourse).
General Linguistics
deals with issues concerning all
languages, studying the essence and nature of
language in general, the problem of its origin, and the
general laws of its functioning, as well as the structure
and classification of languages.
General linguistics develops methods for studying
languages, formulates linguistic universals, that is,
dispositions applicable to most or all languages of the
world.
Private Linguistics
studies one or more related
languages (e.g., Germanic, Turkic, Balkan, etc.).
Depending on the goals and objectives of the study,
private linguistics can be approached from a synchronic
perspective, describing the language at a particular
moment in history, often its modern state, or from a
diachronic perspective, which traces the historical
development of the language.
Historical Comparative Linguistics
focuses on
evaluating the degree of relatedness between
languages, constructing genealogical classifications,
reconstructing ancient languages or proto-languages,
and studying various historical processes affecting
languages, their groups and families, as well as the
etymology of words.
Typology
is concerned with identifying the most
common patterns across different languages,
regardless of a common origin or reciprocal influence.
When a phenomenon is observed in a representative
group of languages, it can be considered a typological
pattern applicable to those languages.
Typological
analysis can be conducted at the level of
sounds (phonetic typology), words (morphological
typology), sentences (syntactic typology), and beyond
(text or discourse typology).
Dialectology
, on the other hand, examines the
territorial local varieties of a language.
Cognitive Linguistics
is an interdisciplinary direction in
linguistics, closely related to semantics, that explores
issues of the relationship between language,
consciousness, and thought, the role of language in
cognition, and the understanding and reflection of the
surrounding reality.
Paralinguistics
studies non-linguistic (non-verbal)
means in discourse, conveying verbal semantic
information within the framework of the verbal
message, as well as the entire set of these means. The
study of non-verbal communication is an important
element of intercultural communication.
Paralinguistics
is also considered a branch of non-
verbal semiotics.
Psycholinguistics is associated with the study of speech,
the formation of speech (most often of an individual).
Psycholinguistics is an independent scientific field that
emerged at the intersection of linguistics and
psychology. It is the study of the psychological aspects
of linguistic phenomena.
The combination of these two disciplines into one
allows for the use of the conceptual apparatus of
linguistics to describe the linguistic form of speech and
the conceptual apparatus of psychology to describe
and explain the mental processes of speech production
and perception.
Within psycholinguistics, for example, children's
speech and speech deviations in mental illnesses are
studied.
Sociolinguistics
examines the role of language within
society, as well as its influence on language. It focuses
on language in relation to the social conditions of its
existence and the external factors that influence its use
and development, including the speech community,
the social structure of that community, and variations
among native speakers. Political linguistics, for
example, develops actively within sociolinguistics.
Applied Linguistics: This field includes practical
domains of linguistics, often interdisciplinary, such as
computational
linguistics
(machine
translation,
linguistic databases in computing, information
retrieval, etc.), language learning, cryptography (the
study of texts in an unknown code or language to
extract information), and mathematical linguistics (for
example, quantitative linguistics, which performs
statistical analysis).
Each new stage in the development of the science of
language has its own characteristics, as new aspects
and methods of language learning emerge. New
schools and branches are developed. One such section
of linguistics is considered linguistic typology. It is
widespread in various countries.
Linguistic typology is a section of linguistics devoted to
elucidating the most common patterns among
different languages, not necessarily related by a
common origin or mutual influence. Typology seeks to
identify the most probable phenomena in different
languages.
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
38
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
Linguistic typology, a branch of general linguistics,
focuses on identifying similarities and differences
between languages regardless of their genetic
relationships or reciprocal influences. It generally aims
to highlight and analyze essential linguistic
characteristics that are likely to influence other aspects
of language structure (such as how meaningful parts of
a word are combined or how a sentence is structured).
Typological studies are based on representative
samples from many languages of the world;
conclusions drawn from studying the sample can, with
some reservations, be extended to all languages on
Earth. Typology is particularly interesting for "exotic" or
less-studied languages, such as those in Southeast Asia,
Africa, Oceania, or among Native American languages,
but the material of widely spoken, prestigious, and
well-studied languages can also be subject to
typological study.
Depending on the direction of study, Semasiological
Typology
and
Onomasiological
Typology
are
distinguished. Semasiological Typology focuses on the
transition from the word to its meaning, while
Onomasiological Typology moves from content to
expression means.
In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that
Comparative Typology aims to provide materials for the
typological classification of languages and to prevent
interference from the mother tongue. Various types of
typological research are established based on their
distinct characteristics, such as the number of
languages compared, the extent of the material
studied, the research objectives, types of divergences,
levels of analysis, and research orientation.
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Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. The Hague:
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Crystal, D. (2003). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the
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Halliday, M. A. K. (2004). An Introduction to Functional
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Hockett, C. F. (1958). A Course in Modern Linguistics.
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Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. New York: Holt,
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