Linguistics is a growing and interesting area of study, having a direct hearing on fields as diverse as education, anthropology, sociology, language teaching, cognitive psychology and philosophy. What is linguistics? Fundamentally, it is concerned with the nature of language and communication. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. By this we mean language in general, not a particular language. Linguistics is scientific in nature and it approaches language scientifically. So Victoria and Fromkin rightly say:
“The scientific study of human language is called linguistics”.
The scientific nature of language is asserted by Jean Aitchison:
“Linguistics tries to answer two basic questions: What is language and How does it work.”
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It may be systematic. It is concerned with reportable fact, method and principles. It woks by means of observation, hypothesis, experiment, tests and inference,. It makes generalization and prediction. It formulates theories; its products are descriptive, verbal or algebraic statements about language.
Thus general linguistics includes a number of related subject involved in the study of language. It can be divided into three sub division.
1. Descriptive Linguistic 2. Historical linguistics. 3. Comparative linguistics.
Descriptive Linguistics
Descriptive linguistics as its title suggests, is concerned with the description and analysis of the ways in which language operates and is used by a given set of speakers at a given time. It is called synchronic linguistic which means studying the events of particular time or era without consideration of historical data. It is pertaining to the study of language linguistic phenomena without reference to any historical perspective. It investigates how the people speak and use the language in a given speech community at a given time. Tie time could be present as in case of language yet unwritten or recently writing. The time could not be past where adequate written records are available as in case of the so called dead language like ancient Greek and Latin.
This descriptive study of language whether of present or past is concerned exclusively with that language, which exists or existed at that period of time and not with what preceded or may follow it. Nor is the descriptive study convened with the description of theory language at the same time. Descriptive linguistic is often regarded as the major part of general linguistics. it is the fundamental aspect of the study of language because it underlines an presupposed by other tow sub division historical linguistics and comparative linguistics.
Historical linguistics
It is also called ‘diachronic or temporal linguistics. The word ‘diarchnoic’ means considering phenomena as they occur or develop through time. It studies the ways in which language changes from period to period and the causes and result of such languages both outside the language and within them. As we investigate language, we also find difference between two or more points in space. The pronunciation of depart varies considerable in England and America and in various sections of each country.
Historical linguistics is the study of developments in language in the course f time. It is a diachronic study of the language. Historical linguistic may from one point of view, be reared as special case comparative.
Comparative Linguistics
In comparative linguistics, one is concerned with form one or more points of view, two or more different language. More generally it is concerned with the theory and technique applicable to such comparisons. Comparative linguistic traces the evolution of the language and by comparison one with another. This comparison is generally done between the language which are generally related this is those, that have developed from some common source. R. H. Robins says
“Comparative Linguistics is principally divided into comparison based on or is made with the view to inferring (suppose) historical relationships among particular language.”
It is thus primarily divided into comparison based on or made with a view to inferring historical relationship among particular language and comparison based on resemble of feature between different language. Without any historical consideration being involved.
Conclusion
Historical and comparative linguistic may be said to have begun 1786. They played a dominant role in Europe and America. Ass Sir William Jones makes the famous statement points out that
”Greek, Latin, Celtic,, Sanskrit, and Germanic appeared to have sprung form a common source.”
These studies are familiar under the title ‘comparative Philology” (study of literature and language ) in English
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