Interdisciplinarity and types of linguistics
Interdisciplinarity is a process of forming integrative relationship among two or more disciplines, which can come into existence in ontological, epistemological and socio-institutional dimensions of a science[1]. This page shows how linguistics develops its interdisciplinarity through expanding ontological dimension, resulting in different types of linguistics.
Linguistics is interdisciplinary[edit | edit source]
The science of linguistics can be dated back to the beginning of the 19th century, when linguistics was the province of philosophy, rhetoric, and literary analysis. Through the development, with the rise of Neogrammarianism, linguistics disentangled itself from the solid framework of philology and rhetoric, taking on interdisciplinary characteristic. Linguistics is expanding its ontological dimension. With interdisciplinary collaboration with biology, psychology, sociology, computer sciences etc, linguistic structures are adopted in other disciplines [1].
Three main interdisciplines[edit | edit source]
This section shows three typical interdisciplines of linguistics: sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and biolinguistics.
Sociolinguistics[edit | edit source]
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Sociolinguistics encompassing sociology and linguistics, examines the relationship between language and society. Sociological researches deal with bilingual or diglossic communities where language functions distinctly. Research method in linguistics, like discourse analysis is adopted to discover how individuals instantiate social identity and ideological positions linguistically. The findings of sociolinguistics are practically used in areas like language teaching and learning[2].
Sociolinguistic research topics[edit | edit source]
- Reasons for language shift and death
- Social reasons for language variation
- Social attitudes towards different varieties of the same language
- Social identity construction through language
- Cultural patterns for expressing certain speech acts
Psycholinguistics[edit | edit source]
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Psycholinguistics examines the relationship between language acquisition and usage with psychological processes, encompassing the fields of psychology and linguistics. In the integrative process of psychology and linguistics, linguistic structure plays a fundamental role in explaining acquisition, comprehension, and production of language in psycholinguistic researches[3].
Psycholinguistic research topics[edit | edit source]
- Speech development and language development
- How individuals in different ages comprehend and produce language
- The neurology of language functioning
- Developmental disorders of language
- Nonhuman language learning
Biolinguistics[edit | edit source]
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Biolinguistics can be defined as “the study of biology and the evolution of language”[4]. Integrating multiple fields not only biology and linguistics, but also psychology, anthropology, mathematics, and neurolinguistics to explain language forming process, biolinguistics is considered a high interdisciplinary field. Biolinguistics originated in Noam Chomsky and Lenneberg’s work: Chomsky put forward the concept of LAD (Language Acquisition Device), arguing for the existence of innate knowledge of language, challenging against the view that language learning is a stimulus-response process; In the 1960s, Lenneberg’s put forward the Critical Period Hypothesis, arguing that language acquisition process is biologically constrained.
Chomsky's five core questions towards biolinguistic research[5][edit | edit source]
- What constitutes the knowledge of language?
- How is the knowledge acquired?
- How is the knowledge put to use?
- What are the relevant brain mechanisms?
- How does this knowledge evolve (in the species)?
Types of linguistics[edit | edit source]
Apart from the three main interdisciplines, linguistics has various subfields, categorized by macro linguistics and micro linguistics:
Macro linguistics[edit | edit source]
- Psycholinguistics
- Biolinguistics
- Sociolinguistics
- Historical linguistics
- Decolonial linguistics
- Computational linguistics
- Corpus linguistics
- Documentary linguistics
- Logical linguistics
- Anthropological linguistics
- Citizen sociolinguistics
- Interactional linguistics
- Ecolinguistics
- User-based linguistics
- Contrastive linguistics
- Forensic linguistics
- Comparative linguistics
Micro linguistics[edit | edit source]
- Phonetics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Semantics
- Pragmatics
- Phonology
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Interdisciplinarity and types of linguistics. (1991). Proceedings of LP’ 90. Linguistics and Phonetics: Prospects and Applications. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294548627_Interdisciplinarity_and_types_of_linguistics
- ↑ J. Holmes. (1999). Sociolinguistics. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03027-8.
- ↑ N.B. Ratner, J.B. Gleason. (2004). Psycholinguistics. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008045046-9.01893-3.
- ↑ Biolinguistics.(2006). Worddisk. Retrieved January 15, 2024, from https://worddisk.com/wiki/Biolinguistics/#4
- ↑ Chomsky, N. (2007). Of minds and language. Biolinguistics, (1), 9-27.
