BUET Definition of Linguistics

1.What is linguistics? Discuss the main branches of Linguistics.
Answer: Linguistics refers to the scientific study of language. Linguistics is the

systematic and scientific study of the structure and development of language in
general or of particular languages. Linguistics is a descriptive study and not a
prescriptive one and describes language in all aspects. It is a subject that keeps
changing, as languages change.
Main Branches of Linguistics
1. Theoretical linguistics: studies the nature of language as it is and analyses

the properties it possesses. It is aimed at learning behaviour and features of
language.
2. Descriptive linguistics: a study of particular languages and language
families, from both historical and synchronic points of view.
3. Historical Linguistics: the study of language change over time.a study of
the pattern of change of languages over time.
4. Sociolinguistics: the study of language and society. the branch of
linguistics that studies the relation between society and language.
5. Psycholinguistics: the study of language and mind. a study of biological
and psychological factors that enable humans to acquire, use and understand
language.
6. comparative linguistics — the study of different languages and their
respective linguistic systems.
7. Applied linguistics: the study of language teaching.a study of practical
applications of language studies, such as translation and speech therapy.
8. Computational Linguistics: studies natural language from a computational
aspect.
2. What are the Components of Linguistics?
Answer
Components of Linguistics are phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,

semantics and pragmatics
1. Phonetics: Phonetics refers to the study of the speech sounds in general. It

deals with the way sounds are produced, transmitted and perceived.
The three main branches of phonetics are
a. Articulatory phonetics: studies the articulation of speech sounds (production

of speech sounds)
b. Acoustic phonetics: studies the physical properties of speech sounds as

transmitted between mouth and ear (transmission of speech sounds).
c. Auditory phonetics: studies the perpetual response to speech sounds as

mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain. (perception of speech sounds)
2. Phonology: a study of how sounds/sound patterns/signs are arranged in each

language, as organized units of speech. It also looks into the specifications in
the distribution of sounds in each language. Or we can say Phonology deals
with the selection and organization of sounds and sound units called
phonemes. Phonology is the study of speech sounds of a particular language.
3. Morphology: studies the forms of words in different uses and constructions.

It is concerned with the evolution of small words from meaningful units
called ‘morphemes. It is studied under two fields, namely, inflectional
morphology and derivational morphology.
4. Syntax: studies the construction of phrases, clauses and sentences in a
language. It analyses the basic word order followed in languages.
5. Semantics: it is a study of meaning. It focuses on studying the structure of
meaning in a language and in giving an account of word and sentence
meaning.
6. Pragmatics: it is an extension of semantic and deals with the study on how
meaning changes with different contexts.
The hierarchy of language can be represented as:
 Phonemes
 Syllables
 Morphemes
 Words
 Phrases
 Clauses
 Sentences/Utterances
 Texts/discourses
3. Vowels, consonants, diphthongs, semivowels, stress, intonation and

tone
Vowels: Vowels are those speech sounds which are produced without
any obstruction in the oral cavity or inside the mouth.
For example,
iː be, see, beach, ski, city
ɪ big, busy, England, been, myth
ʊ full, look, woman
uː who, food, music, you, new

Consonants: Consonants are those speech sounds which are articulated with
complete or partial closure of the air stream by constriction of speech organs.
Or
Consonants are those speech sounds during the articulation of which the air from
the lungs does not escape freely or continuously or through the mouth.
Example, /k/ in contain, /s/ in son and /m/in moon are consonants.
Diphthongs: Diphthongs are gliding vowels in the articulation of which there is a

continuous transition from one position to another. examples,
ɪə ear, beer, here, idea
eɪ cake, day, train, great, they
ʊə tour, Europe, cure
ɔɪ boy, voice
Semivowel: a speech sound of vowel quality used as a consonant, as /w/ in winter

/w I nt /, what (w t), one (w n) and or /j/ in yellow/j l /, unite /jun I t/,
beautiful/bjut I f l/
Intonation, in phonetics, the melodic pattern of an utterance. Intonation is

primarily a matter of variation in the pitch level of the voice,but in
such languages as English, stress and rhythm are also
involved. Intonation conveys differences of expressive meaning (e.g., surprise,
anger, wariness).
The definition of intonation is the way the pitch of your voice goes up and down
as you talk or reciting something by singing it. An example of intonation is the
way your voice raises in pitch at the end of a question.
Stress: the way that a word or syllable is pronounced with greater force than other
words in the same sentence or other syllables in the same word.
English is known as a stressed language.
Stressed languages are languages spoken with differing degrees of emphasis on the
words and syllables in the sentences.
Roach (2009:73) defines stress as the degree of force used in the pronounciation of
a certain syllable. Gimson (1989:228) refers to stress as a capcity of the
pronunciation for the speaker and the higher sound for the listener. There is a
strong relationship between stress and syllable. Lodge (2009:76) points out that a
stressed syllable is produced with strong energy which makes it unique
In English language there are only three main levels of stress: primary stress,
secondary stress and unstressed.
Primary stress can be marked with a vertical mark [ ' ] placed above and in front
of the syllable ( Collins and Mess, 2013:131). Examples : Father / ˈfɑːðə / About /
əˈbaʊt / Receive / rɪˈsiːv /
Gussenhoven and Jacobs (2011:32) state that IPA marking for secondary stress is
[,] to be placed before the syllable concerned. Examples: Anthropology / ˌænθrə
ˈpɒləʤi / Organization / ˌɔːgənaɪˈzeɪʃən / Activation / ˌæktɪˈveɪʃən /
two-syllable words in which the placement of stress play main role in
determining their syntactic category (noun, adjective or verb)
words Nouns Verbs
conflict 'kɒnflıkt kən'flıkt
import 'ımpɔ:t ım'pɔ:t
Tone: Tone refers to the pitch changes made to affect the meaning of words and
phrases. Pitch is a voice quality produced by vibrations of the vocal folds.
Example
Many learners have a first language that is tonal, i.e. the same word said in a high
pitch may mean something different from when it is said in a low pitch. Examples
of tonal languages are Mandarin Chinese, Swedish and Scottish Gaelic. English is
not a tonal language i.e. pitch changes in words do not change meanings. Patterns
of pitch changes (intonation patterns) are used in English to indicate attitude.
Voiceless Sounds: when the vocal cords are wide apart and the glottis is open, the
air passes through the open glottis and hence the produced sounds are voiceless
sounds. Examples, / p, t,k/,/h/, /s/
Voiced Sounds: When the vocal cords are loosely held together and the glottis is
closed, the air passes through the closed glottis and hence the produced sounds are
voiced sounds.
The vocal cords are brought close to each other and kept loosely together and so
they vibrate and the produced sounds are voiced sounds.
Examples, all vowels are voiced sounds

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1.What is linguistics? Discuss the main branches of Linguistics.

Answer: Linguistics refers to the scientific study of language. Linguistics is the

1. Theoretical linguistics: studies the nature of language as it is and analyses

2. What are the Components of Linguistics?

Components of Linguistics are phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,

1. Phonetics: Phonetics refers to the study of the speech sounds in general. It

a. Articulatory phonetics: studies the articulation of speech sounds (production

b. Acoustic phonetics: studies the physical properties of speech sounds as

c. Auditory phonetics: studies the perpetual response to speech sounds as

2. Phonology: a study of how sounds/sound patterns/signs are arranged in each

3. Morphology: studies the forms of words in different uses and constructions.

The hierarchy of language can be represented as:

3. Vowels, consonants, diphthongs, semivowels, stress, intonation and

iː be, see, beach, ski, city

ɪ big, busy, England, been, myth

ʊ full, look, woman

uː who, food, music, you, new

Diphthongs: Diphthongs are gliding vowels in the articulation of which there is a

ɪə ear, beer, here, idea

eɪ cake, day, train, great, they

Semivowel: a speech sound of vowel quality used as a consonant, as /w/ in winter

Intonation, in phonetics, the melodic pattern of an utterance. Intonation is

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