Introduction to Linguistics

1. What is Linguistics?

Linguistics is the scientific study of language—its structure, use, and meaning.

• According to Lyons (1981), linguistics is "the scientific study of language, concerned with the nature of human language itself and the systematic investigation of its structure."

• Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams (2018) define linguistics as the discipline that seeks to describe the knowledge speakers have of their language and explain how this knowledge is acquired and used.

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2. Difference Between Language and Linguistics

• Language: A system of communication consisting of sounds, symbols, and grammar used by a community (Sapir, 1921).

• Linguistics: The scientific study about language and its phenomena (Lyons, 1981).

👉 Example:

• Language = English, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic.

• Linguistics = the study of how verbs work in English, how politeness is expressed in Bahasa, or how Arabic syntax is structured.

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3. Difference Between Linguistics and Linguist

• Linguistics: The academic discipline that studies language (Lyons, 1981).

• Linguist: A person who studies linguistics OR someone proficient in several languages.

o Chomsky (1965) emphasized the linguist’s task as describing the implicit knowledge (competence) that speakers have of their language.

o Contrast: a polyglot may be called a "linguist" in everyday use, but in academic sense, a linguist is a scholar of linguistics.

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4. Langue, Langage, and Parole (Saussure, 1916)

• Langage: General human capacity for language (ability to communicate).

• Langue: The structured system of signs shared by a community (e.g., English grammar, Indonesian vocabulary).

• Parole: Individual use of language in actual speech acts (personal utterances).

👉 Example:

• Langage = ability of humans to communicate.

• Langue = English as a structured code.

• Parole = “I’m hungry” said by a speaker at a specific time.

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5. Coverage of Linguistics

Linguistics is commonly divided into micro, macro, intra, and extralinguistics (cf. Crystal, 2008; Yule, 2020).

a. Microlinguistics

Focus: internal structure of language.

• Phonetics (physical sounds) – Pike (1943)

• Phonology (sound systems) – Trubetzkoy (1939)

• Morphology (word structure) – Bloomfield (1933)

• Syntax (sentence structure) – Chomsky (1957)

• Semantics (meaning) – Ogden & Richards (1923)

• Pragmatics (meaning in context) – Austin (1962), Searle (1969)

b. Macrolinguistics

Focus: language in broader contexts.

• Sociolinguistics – Labov (1972)

• Psycholinguistics – Carroll (2008), Chomsky (1965)

• Anthropological Linguistics – Sapir (1921), Hymes (1974)

• Discourse Analysis – Fairclough (1992)

• Applied Linguistics – Brumfit (1980), Cook (2003)

c. Intralinguistics

• Studies the internal rules and structures of a language system.

• Concerned with grammar, phonology, morphology, syntax.

• Example: Chomsky’s Generative Grammar (1965).

d. Extralinguistics

• Studies how language relates to external factors such as culture, society, cognition, politics.

• Example: Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995), Language and Culture (Kramsch, 1998).

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References

1. Austin, J. L. (1962). How to Do Things with Words. Oxford University Press.

2. Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

3. Brumfit, C. (1980). Problems and Principles in English Teaching. Pergamon.

4. Carroll, D. W. (2008). Psychology of Language. Wadsworth.

5. Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. Mouton.

6. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.

7. Cook, G. (2003). Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press.

8. Crystal, D. (2008). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (6th ed.). Blackwell.

9. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Polity.

10. Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis. Longman.

11. Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2018). An Introduction to Language. Cengage.

12. Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. University of Pennsylvania Press.

13. Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and Culture. Oxford University Press.

14. Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic Patterns. University of Pennsylvania Press.

15. Lyons, J. (1981). Language and Linguistics. Cambridge University Press.

16. Ogden, C. K., & Richards, I. A. (1923). The Meaning of Meaning. Routledge.

17. Pike, K. L. (1943). Phonetics. University of Michigan Press.

18. Saussure, F. de. (1916/1959). Course in General Linguistics. McGraw-Hill.

19. Sapir, E. (1921). Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. Harcourt, Brace.

20. Trubetzkoy, N. S. (1939). Grundzüge der Phonologie. Travaux du Cercle Linguistique de Prague.

21. Yule, G. (2020). The Study of Language (8th ed.). Cambridge University Press.