Branches of Linguistics

The study of linguistics involves the study of a number of different levels of linguistic units

Micro Linguistics: is concerned with the internal view of language, with the structure of the
language

Phonetics deals with the study of indiviual speech sounds

Phonology deals with how these sounds pattern systematically within a language

Prosody deals with the study of the meanings associated with certain intonational contours

Syntax deals with the study of linguistic forms and how they are arranged in sequences and which
sequences are well-formed

Morphology is the study of the way in which words are constructed out of smaller units which have
a meaning and gramatical function, for example the world friendly is constructed from friend and
the suffix -ly.

Semantics is the study of the relationship linguistic forms and entities in the real world (sign/
signifier) it is concerned with the literal meaning of words.

Pragmatics is the study of the relationship between the linguistic form users of those forms

Discourse analysis is hit study of how sentences in spoken and written language form larger
meaningful units such as paragraphs, conversations, interviews, etc.

Macro Linguistics: is concerned with an external view of language, which relates to other
sciences.

Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to social factors such as social class, educational
level, age, sex, ethnicity and so on.

Psycholinguistics is the study of mental processes underlying the planning, production, perception
and comprehension of speech, for example how memory limitations affect speech production and
comprehension.

Applied Linguistics is concerned with the application of the linguistic concepts in everyday life,
including language teaching.

Neurolinguistics is the study of the brain networks that underline grammar and communication

Historical linguistics or Diachronic linguistics is the study of language change