What is Linguistics?

Answer:
Linguistics is the

formal study of languages, how they form, where they spread, how they change, and what is unique about them. Linguistics is not the study of a single, particular language but is the study of language – spoken and written – in general. Some place the study of linguistics together in the same category as anthropology. The word linguistics comes from the Latin meaning “tongue” and by extension contains the meaning of language.

The difference between studying a foreign language and studying linguistics can be illustrated by the example of student A learning German. Student A would learn German vocabulary, grammar, idiomatic expressions, etc. Student A would complete his or her coursework with the ability to speak, read and write German. However, Student B, a linguistics student, would be interested in learning the origins of modern German, its modern relatives, what is shares in common with other Indo-European languages, what verbal sounds are unique to German, how German has changed from ancient times to the present, etc. In other words, instead of studying how to use a language, a student of linguistics would study language itself.

There are many types of linguistic studies, including phonology, neurolinguistics, discourse analysis, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, etc.