Is Linguistics a Science?

Linguistic is defined as the scientific study of

language. It studies human language dealing with
all its aspects.
Unlike the other disciplines (astrology, physics,
mathematics, chemistry, biology .etc.), linguistics
needs to justify its claim to be called a science and to
prove the validity of its title and its scientific status.
 Linguistic goals

Bringing unconscious combination of its different

knowledge units un the brain

Level of consciousness
 Linguistics as Science

Linguists agree on some implications of the term

"scientific".
 EMPIRICISM

Data (spoken & written)

experiment/analysis

justification & verification

formulation & generalization

the principle of falsification

 The principle of falsification
Consider the following data :
Does Karim help his father?/ Karim helps his father.

Did Meriam meet karim?/ Meriam met karim.

Do you need more exercises?/ you need more

exercises.

Is Meriam a good girl?/ Meriam a good girl.

 OBJECTIVITY

-No emotions or personal prejudices.

- All languages are equal
-No 'primitive' , ‘underdeveloped’,
'cultured' 'civilized' languages
-Language is a highly complex
organized system
 Linguistics is objective

Objectivity • It is based on observable phenomena and is not

influenced by emotions or personal prejudices

• It considers all languages to be equal

Objectivity • For the linguist, there is no 'primitive' , ‘underdeveloped’ or,

'cultured' , 'civilized' languages. No accent or dialect should
be thought to be purer than another

Objectivity • It is not affected by cultural, social and historical

misconceptions about certain language
 Exhaustiveness.

Linguistics deals with all relevant data

studies all aspects of language .

 Consistency.

No contradiction between different parts of

statements
 Economy

No repetition

use notations &symbols

 Linguistics is Systematic

A scientific study or the analysis should be done systematically.

It must follow well-defined procedures.
Two kinds of procedures are possible for a systematic study of language :

The inductive
approach The deductive
approach
A method analysis
It formulates general moving from general
rules from particular facts to particular ones
facts or statistics.
 Expliciteness

Clearly defined terms for the analysis.

The scientificity of language
 Conclusion

Linguistics

a social science

less accurate than natural or 'hard' sciences

its subject matter (spoken or written)