Linguistics

1. Main branches of linguistics.
As linguistics (the science of language) is an enormous field, it needs branches. It can be branched according to
Linguistic units
1.phonetics and phonology (sounds)
2.grammar (has 2 sub-branches – morphology [morphemes] and syntax [sentences])
3.Lexicology (vocabulary)
4.Semantics (meaning).
Languages.

*As there are modern developments of linguistics, new branches are created based on new methods that are used, which are borrowed from other sciences:
Historical linguistics - the study of language change.
Discourse analyses (1950’s). It is not considered as a branch of linguistics, but it actually is, because discourse organizes important aspects of our social lives, and it is a core concept across humanities and social sciences.
Text linguistics 1960’s – 1970’s.
Applied linguistics 1950’s. Started with problems connected with teaching English. The general aim is to promote the teaching of English around the world. The field includes such areas as language policy or language planning, lexicography, language contact studies, language assessment, second language acquisition, literacy, forensic linguistics.
Cognitive linguistics 1970’s. Its philosophical basis is a phenomelogical approach. It interprets language in terms of the concepts, sometimes universal, sometimes specific to a particular tongue, which underlie its forms.
Psycholinguistics 1950’s – 1960’s. Studies the cognitive aspects of language understanding and production, also how babies acquire language.
Sociolinguistics 1950’s. The study of languages in its social contexts and the study of social life through linguistics. How language is used in different levels of society.
Geographical linguistics (includes dialectology, areal linguistics). The study of languages and dialects in terms of their geographical distribution.
Mathematical linguistics. Studies the mathematical properties of language, usually using concepts of statistic
Computational linguistics. Computational techniques and concepts are applied to solving linguistic problems.
Biological linguistics.
Forensic linguistics. The use of linguistic techniques to investigate crimes in which language data forms are a part of the evidence.…