subject: Linguistics As An Academic Discipline And Its Classification [print this page] The Anthropological Approach The Anthropological Approach
For many year Linguistics was the part of Philosophy. Only a few centuries ago it became a separate discipline. Through the period of its development this discipline was studied from the point of structure, communicative role and the role in human society. Recent linguistic researches are made in anthropological tendency. As the last decade and the beginning of the 21-st century is the epoch of anthropological approach. It is the fact that Linguistics studies human language, its nature, functions and method of linguistic study.
Different Methods of Linguistic Study
Language can be described through different angles:
Synchronically and diachronically: the choice of the method depends on the period of language development. If we study contemporary language we use synchronical approach, and if we study the development of language many years ago we use diachronical approach
Theoretically and practically: theoretical linguistics concerns the theory of language, the study of different linguistic categories. And practical linguistics studies language in speech.
Through the context and independently: one and the same may mean different aspect in different context. If we need general meaning of the word we try to study it independently, without any context. If we need a concrete meaning we study this meaning in a definite situation, a context.
Areas of Theoretical Linguistics
Linguistics is divided into several linguistic areas. Each area studies different aspect of language.
This division is widely known:
Phonetics studies different linguistic sounds.
Phonology studies the abstract realization of sounds
Morphology is dedicated to the study of parts of speech
Syntax deals with word combinations, sentences and logical combination of words in general.
Semantics study the meaning of the words and its functions.
Pragmatics studies the aim of this or that utterance, communicative acts.
Stylistics studies various functional styles of language.
