Linguistics

Lge has been a long manhood concern throughout centuries and was studied by many ancient
civilizations like (Greeks ,Romans ) also linguistics has been too .ling as a Systematic (or, scientific)
treatment of the structure of language, It is a science in which scientifically studies the rules, systems
and principles of human languages( the nature of language, examines all lge forms and seeks a
scientific understanding).

1-Scopes of ling :

1/1 Mirco-ling (theoretical ling): is concerned with the structure of lge systems in itself and for itself ,it
includes:

A: Phonetics: The study of speech sounds; how they are produced (articulatory phonetics), how they
are transmitted(acoustic phonetics), and how they are perceived (auditory phonetics). B: Phonology:
The study of the sound system of lge; how the particular sounds used in each lge form an integrated
system for encoding information and how such systems differ from one lge to another. C: Morphology
:is the study of the formation of words, like ( friend/ly). D: Syntax : deals with the combination of
words into phrases, clauses and sentences. It is the grammar of sentence construction. E: Semantics:
The study of meaning; how words and sentences are related to the real or imaginary objects they refer
to.

1/2 Macro-ling(applied ling, interdisciplinary ): it is concerned with everything that related in any way
at all to lge and lges.

A: Sociolinguistics :The study of lge in relation to social factors such as social class, educational level,
age, sex and ethnic origin. Such areas as bilingual or multilingual communities, lge planning or lge
attitudes . B:Psycholinguistics :is the study of lge and mind, the mental structures and processes which
are involved in the acquisition, comprehension and production of lge. C: Discourse analysis or text
linguistics: is the study of the relationship between lge and the contexts, how sentences in spoken and
written lge form larger meaningful units such as paragraphs, conversations. D: Pragmatics: The study
of the use of lge in communication, particularly the relationships btwn sentences and the contexts and
situations in which they are used such as time, place, social relationship .E: Computational linguistics:
is an approach to linguistics which employs mathematical techniques, often with the help of a
computer. F:Cognitive linguistics: is an approach to the analysis of natural lge that focuses on lge as an
instrument for organizing, processing, and conveying information .G: Applied linguistics: is primarily
concerned with the application of linguistic theories, methods and findings to the explanation of lge
problems which have arisen in other areas of experience.
 Trends of ling (theories )

1: Structuralism : Focus on Lge Structure/ Form,(Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Father of Modern

Linguistics),the birth of ST in ling is traced back to the publication of Saussure’s (course in general ling
1916), Structural linguistics is based on the idea : 1/lge is a self-regulating and self-contained system 2/
We can only study what we can observe 3/based on segmentation(they divided lge into 4 levels
phonemic ,morphology, semantic syntactic) . The application of the linguistic theory of structuralism is
informed primarily by 3 elements defined by Saussure:

- Language as synchronic rather than diachronic.

- The arbitrariness of the linguistic sign.
- Linguistic value depends of DIFFERENCE.

( Leonard Bloomfield (1887- 1949): 1914: First major publication titled An Introduction to the Study of
Language , Bloomfield grounded his work, especially his approach to meaning, in the principles of
behaviourism . Bloomfield’s approach and thinking dominated the development of linguistics,
especially in America. Due to Bloomfield’s use of various techniques in the identification and
classification of elements of sentence structures his approach was later called structuralist.( American
structuralist 1933).

-Criticism on Structuralism: Ideas are efficient for phonology and morphology because they have
finite number of units but not for syntax (Chomsky)/, Meaning is contextual, /Signifier and signified are
not two things but they are same as concepts are no more than the words.

2: Functionalism : the best known figures are R. Jakobson and N. Trubetskoy(The Prague School Circle
1926) . is characterized by the belief that the phonological, grammatical and semantic structure of lge
is determined by the functions that they have to perform . they emphasize the multifunctionality of lge
and the importance of its expressive ,social ,conative (desire) functions . in contrast of its descriptive
functions.

3: Generativism : the founder of which is Noam Chomsky 1957. (Wrote a book Syntactic Structures to
spread his theory). He described the human lges by means of generative grammar( it is possible to
create an infinite number of sentences from a finite number of grammatical structure .they
emphasized the lge universals .innateness hypothesis (human beings hv an innate capacity to acquire
lge ),universal grammar (The limits on the form that human grammar can take (principles ,parameters)
and competence-performance are the key concepts in generativism .