Linguistics is a science that studies the language

Among the humanities, linguistics occupies a special place, since many of the moments studied by it lead to areas of knowledge that seem to lie beyond its borders, and yet, without linguistic discoveries, they can not be dispensed with.

The science of language

In the most general sense of the word, linguistics is a science that studies language (the second name of this science is linguistics). In school, it is usually understood that such areas of the language as sounds, words, sentence structure, parts of speech and text are studied, and most often the native language is meant. These areas of knowledge are really interesting and necessary, but if everything ended only in the structure of the native language, its structure, linguistics would be very cramped. After all, the language keeps a lot of interesting secrets.

Linguistics and Computers

Many will find it strange, but without linguistic discoveries, humanity would not create computers and computer programs. In this field of knowledge, linguistics is very close to mathematics and is called computer science. Computer linguistics is a science that studies such issues as artificial intelligence, machine translation, programming languages, speech recognition, etc., and it is data given to applied linguistics that make it possible to improve computer programs and ways of communication so quickly.

Linguistics and History

For historians, linguistics is a field of knowledge that has data on the origin of a person. Any historical discoveries relating to antiquity rely heavily on linguistic data. The affinity and origin of languages, the prevalence of a language in a certain region, the etymology (origin) of words - those questions, the answers to which turn for historians into serious arguments. Often it is the new data on the language of a particular nation that puts an end to a historical dispute or destroys ideas about history.

Historians of literature when deciding on the authorship of a work also rely, first of all, on linguistic data.

Linguistics and Medicine

For a doctor, linguistics is a science that studies the mechanisms of speech. Easy at first glance, violations can make it clear to a qualified neurologist that the patient has severe nervous system damage. By the nature of speech disorders, an experienced specialist can often determine how serious a person's brain damage is, and how deep the patient's examination should be. The converse is also true: often the restoration of speech indicates that the treatment strategy is chosen by the doctor correctly, and the process of recovery (for example, rehabilitation after a stroke) is successful.

For a speech therapist, linguistics is also a science of speech mechanisms, but most often it solves the problems of articulating (pronouncing, pronouncing) sounds. Knowledge of how a person speaks, how he pronounces sounds, what movements he does, how he breathes, helps speech therapists not only improve the diction of healthy children, but also work with people with serious pronunciation disabilities, with kids who were brought up in poor conditions , And did not learn to speak correctly.

Linguistics and the study of foreign languages

Studying a foreign language in an "artificial" way, one way or another encounters linguistic knowledge. The study of foreign sounds, conjugations of verbs, meanings of foreign words, the structure of sentences - all this is a field of linguistics. However, this is only a small part of the linguistic knowledge that relates to the study of a foreign language. The most interesting, of course, is beyond the boundaries of a school textbook or self-instruction manual.

Linguistics as a science of language raises questions about how a person learns to speak, primarily in his native language. How does it happen that each person gets such a vast knowledge, being very small? How does this happen? Perhaps a certain "program" is embedded in his brain from birth, as, for example, the "program" to walk on two legs? What are the characteristics of the child's brain, allowing the child to master a complex system of knowledge in a short time - language? Similar issues are dealt with in a separate direction. For an ontolinguist, linguistics is a science that studies the miracle of understanding a language by a small child. And it is the knowledge gained as a result of ontolinguistic research that sheds light on how to study foreign languages more productively.

Let the child's path be impossible to repeat at school or adult age, but the knowledge of many mechanisms of mastering the language, the stages and methods allow literate specialists to quickly teach foreigners a different language, adapt them to life in a new country for them, teach them not to feel alien in it, Give a chance to their children to find a second home.

Linguistics and poetry

One of the directions without which linguistics as a deep and subtle science is unimaginable is the study of the language of artistic works. Subtle observations of linguists reveal the secrets of the birth of the masterpiece, the secrets of talent, help to understand the depth of the work, to understand not only one's own, but also the culture of others, and thus expand the horizons of human knowledge.

Probably every professional linguist, who loves his work, will think deeply about the question of what linguistics is. The definition of this science can only be given the most general, since in each of its areas it ultimately deals with what is still unclear, it is not known what is only a little bit open to the person.