Narrowly, that part of the Broadly, the entire structure

structure of a language of a language, including not

which includes sentence only its syntax and
structure (syntax) and morphology, but also its
word structure phonology and semantics, and
(morphology).*1 possibly also its pragmatics.*1

A description of the structure of a language and

the way in which linguistic units (words, phrases)
are combined to produce sentences in the
language. It usually takes into account the
meanings and functions these sentences have in
the overall system of the language. *2

*1. A Student’s Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. R. L. Trask. (1998)

*2. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Jack C. Richards. Richard Schmidt.
(2002)
Linguistic Units or Grammatical Units are parts of a language system. Linguistic units
can be the distinctive sounds of a language (phonemes), words, phrases, or
sentences, or they can be larger units such as utterances*(3) in a conversation. They
can be graded according to size of unit: morphemes (phonemes / graphemes), words,
phrases, clauses, sentences.

*3 utterance: (in discourse) what is said by any one person before or after another person begins to
speak. It can consist of one word, one sentence, more than one sentence.
 A system of communication consisting of a set of small parts and a set of rules
which decide the ways in which these parts can be combined to produce
messages that have meaning.
 The system of human communication which consists of the structured
arrangement of sounds (or their written representation) into larger units, e.g.
MORPHEMES, WORDS, SENTENCES, UTTERANCES.
In common usage it can also refer to non-human systems of communication
such as the “language” of bees, the “language” of dolphins. (Longman Dictionary of
Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics.)

Phonetics: the study of the physical aspects of speech.

Phonology: the study of the way speech sounds are structured and how these are
combined to create meaning in words, phrases and sentences.

Morphology: the study of “morphemes” and their different forms, and the way they
combine in word formation. For example, the English word unfriendly is formed from
friend, the suffix –ly and the negative prefix un-.
 Syntax: the study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules which govern
the formation of sentences, making some sentences possible and others not possible
within a particular language.

Semantics: the study of meaning (what a language expresses about the world we live
in or any possible or imaginary world). Linguists have investigated the way in which
meaning in a language is structured and have distinguished between different types of
meaning: connotation and denotation.

Pragmatics: the study of the use of language in communication, particularly the

relationships between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are
used.

Let’s have a look at some examples:

ADJECTIVES: e.g. cheap

 Phonetics: cheap (tʃiːp)

 Morphology: comparative cheaper

superlative (the) cheapest

 Syntax: attributive a cheap bag (part of a noun phrase)

predicative The bag is cheap. (not part of a noun phrase but a separate clause
element)

 Semantics: cheap descriptive; it can be gradable very cheap

 Denotation: inexpensive (exact, literal meaning; dictionary definition)
 Connotation: low quality –of products; stingy –of people (the feelings or
emotions associated with a word; it goes beyond the actual meaning)

 Pragmatics: What time do you call this?

 Literal meaning: What time is it?
 Literal response: a time, e.g. Twenty to one
 Pragmatic meaning: a different question entirely; e.g. Why are you so
late?
 Pragmatic response: explain the reason for being so late.