Table of Contents

Introduction
History of linguistics
- Earlier history
  - Non-Western traditions
  - Greek and Roman antiquity
  - The European Middle Ages
  - The Renaissance
- The 19th century
  - Development of the comparative method
  - The role of analogy
  - Other 19th-century theories and development
    - Inner and outer form
    - Phonetics and dialectology
- The 20th century
  - Structuralism
    - Structural linguistics in Europe
    - Structural linguistics in America
  - Transformational-generative grammar
  - Tagmemic, stratificational, and other approaches
Methods of synchronic linguistic analysis
- Structural linguistics
  - Phonology
  - Morphology
  - Syntax
  - Semantics
- Transformational-generative grammar
  - Harris’s grammar
  - Chomsky’s grammar
  - Modifications in Chomsky’s grammar
- Tagmemics
  - Modes of language
  - Hierarchy of levels
- Stratificational grammar
  - Technical terminology
  - Interstratal relationships
- The Prague school
  - Combination of structuralism and functionalism
  - Phonological contributions
  - Theory of markedness
  - Later contributions
Historical (diachronic) linguistics
- Linguistic change
  - Sound change
  - Grammatical change
  - Semantic change
  - Borrowing
- The comparative method
  - Grimm’s law
  - Proto-Indo-European reconstruction
  - Steps in the comparative method
  - Criticisms of the comparative method
  - Internal reconstruction
- Language classification
Linguistics and other disciplines
- Psycholinguistics
  - Language acquisition by children
  - Speech perception
  - Other areas of research
- Sociolinguistics
  - Delineation of the field
  - Social dimensions
- Other relationships
  - Anthropological linguistics
  - Computational linguistics
  - Mathematical linguistics
  - Stylistics
  - Applied linguistics
Dialectology and linguistic geography
- Dialect geography
  - Early dialect studies
  - Dialect atlases
  - The value and applications of dialectology
- Social dialectology

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Written by Eric P. Hamp, John Lyons, Pavle IvićSee All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 30, 2023 • Article History

Wilhelm von Humboldt

Wilhelm von Humboldt

Category: History & Society

Key People:: Noam Chomsky Lancelot Thomas Hogben Michel Thomas Julia Kristeva Joseph H. Greenberg

Related Topics:: grammar stylistics comparative linguistics historical linguistics psycholinguistics

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linguistics, the scientific study of language. The word was first used in the middle of the 19th century to emphasize the difference between a newer approach to the study of language that was then developing and the more traditional approach of philology. The differences were and are largely matters of attitude, emphasis, and purpose. The philologist is concerned primarily with the historical development of languages as it is manifest in written texts and in the context of the associated literature and culture. The linguist, though he may be interested in written texts and in the development of languages through time, ...(100 of 29428 words)

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