Lecture 2

Is Linguistics a Science?
Terminology and Notation

p. 37-47
 Is linguistics a science?

• Linguistics is usually defined as the science of language or the

scientific study of language.
• The question is: is linguistics a science?
• Scientific status of disciplines like physics, chemistry,
biology, ...etc. is unquestioned. So, there’s no need to justify that.
Why scientific status of linguistics is questioned?
 Is linguistics a science?

• The word science in English is much narrower in its

coverage than many of its equivalents in other languages.
• The implications of the English words ‘science’ and
’scientific’ refer, first and foremost, to the natural sciences
and the scientific methods of investigation.

observ ask formalize collect analyze find

e questions hypotheses data data results.
 Is linguistics a science?

•Linguists who define linguistics as the scientific study of language do so

because they have in mind some distinction between a scientific and a
non-scientific way of doing things.
The difference between scientific and non-scientific ways
1.Scientific way is empirical rather than speculative or intuitive. It
operates with verifiable data obtained by means of observation or
experiment.
2.The scientific way is objective rather than subjective.
 Is linguistics a science?

Modern Linguistics vs. Traditional Grammar

• Linguists draw a sharp distinction between traditional grammar and
modern linguistics, contrasting the scientific status of the latter with
the non-scientific status of the former.
• Linguistics nowadays is more empirical and objective, unlike the
time of the traditional grammar is based on philosophical and
cultural assumptions.
• Linguistics, like any other discipline, builds on the past (traditional
grammar), not only by challenging and refuting traditional grammar,
but also by developing and reformulating it.
 Is Linguistics a Science? (cont.)
Empiricism vs. Rationalism
• Empiricism
 knowledge comes from experience derived from the senses,
 relies on observation and experiments,
 uses formalized general hypothesis and capable theory,
 aims to analyze data and make inductive generalizations.
 there is no such thing as theory-neutral and hypothesis-free
observation and data collection.
 Is Linguistics a Science? (cont.)

• Rationalism
It is opposed to empiricism.
 Emphasizes the role that mind plays in the acquisition of
knowledge.
 Rationalists hold that there are certain concepts or propositions
known independently of experience. These concepts or
propositions are used to interpret the data.
 Task 2

• Is linguistics a science? Discuss.

 Terminology and Notation
1- Terminology
• Most of the technical terms used by linguists arise in the course of
their work and are easily understood.
• The objection is sometimes made that these terminology of
linguistics are unnecessary and complex. Why is the linguist not
content to talk about sounds, words and parts of speech, instead of
inventing such technical terms as ‘phoneme’, ‘morpheme’ and
‘form class’?
• The answer is that most of the everyday terms that are used with
reference to language are imprecise and ambiguous.
 Terminology and Notation
(cont.)

• Therefore, the specialized vocabulary of linguistics serves to:

• 1-clarify, rather than mystify.
• 2-It eliminates a good deal of ambiguity and possible
misunderstanding.
 Terminology and Notation
(cont.)
2- Notation
• As with terminology, so with notation. We need to be able to
identify exactly what bits, parts or features of a language we are
referring to.
• The use of special notational conventions makes this a lot easier
(e.g. single quotation-marks, double quotation-marks, italics).
• Unfortunately, no generally accepted set of notational
conventions that these distinctions can be drawn.
• Thus, each work adopts its own notified notational conventions.
 Task 2

• Are the notations in the dictionaries similar or

different?