Branches of linguistics Languages can be studied from different points of vew.

Therefore, the field of linguistics as a whole can be divided into several subfields according to the point of view that is adopted. - General / descriptive linguistics: the first distinction to be drawn is between general and descriptive linguistics. General linguistics has to do with studying language in general, while descriptive linguistics refers to describing particular languages.General linguistics and descriptive linguistics are by no means unrelated. Each depends upon the other: general linguistics supplies the concepts and categories in terms of which particular languages are to be analysed; descriptive linguistics, in its turn, provide the data which confirm or refute the propositions and theories put forward in general linguistics. For example, the general linguist might formulate a hypothesis that all languages have nouns and verbs. The descriptive linguist might refute this with empirical data that there is at least one language in which the distinction between nouns and verbs cannot be established. But, in order to refute, or confirm, the hypothesis the descrpitive linguist must operate with some concepts of noun and verb which is provided by general linguistics. - Historical and non-historical linguistics: Historical linguistics is concerned with investigating the details of the historical development of particular languages and with formulating general hypothesis about language-change. The terms diachronic and synchronic were first used by Saussure. A diachrinic description of a language traces the historical development of the language and records the changes that have taken place. A synchronic description of a language is non-historical: it presents an ccount of the language as it is at some particular point in life. - Theoretical / applied linguistics: a third dichotomy is that which holds between theoretical and applied linguistics. Briefly, theoretical linguistics studies language and languages and is concerned with formulating a satisfactory theory of their structure and functions and without regard to any practical applications that the investigation of language and languages might have, whereas applied linguistics is concerned with the application of the concepts and findings of linguistics to a variety of practical tasks, including languageteaching. - Microlinguistics / macrolinguistics: the fourth, and final, dichotomy has to do with microlinguistics and macrolinguistics, saying that in microlinguistics one adopts the narrower view and in macrolinguistics the broader view. Micolinguistics is concerned solely with the structure of language-systems, without regard to the way in which languages are acquired, stored in the brain or used in their various functions; without regard to the interdependence of language and culture; without regard to the physiological and psychological mechanisms thar are involved in language-behaviour; in short, without regard to anything other than language-system. Macrolinguistics is concerned with everything that has to do with language and languages. Is linguistics a science? Linguistics is usually defined as the science of language or, alternatively, as the scientific study of language. Linguistics is empirical, rather than speculative or intuitive: it operates with publicly verifiable date obtained by means of observation and experimentation. In addition, linguistics is a science because it is the property of objectivity. Language is something that we tend to take for granted; something with which we are familiar from

childhood in a practical, unreflecting manner. This practical fami9liarity with language tends to stand in the way of its objective examination. Linguistics, also, has an object of study language. Nevertheless, the question whether a discipline is or is not scientific can no longer be satisfactorily answered, if it ever could be, by making reference to the so called scientific method. Every well established science employs its own characteristic theoretical constructs and its own methods of obtaining and interpreting the data. It is important for linguists to draw a sharp distinction between traditional grammar and modern linguistics, contrasting the scientific status of the latter with the non-scientific status of the former. Traditional grammar refers to Western linguistic theory from Greek scholarship to the Renaissance. It was very ofter a misunderstood and distorted version of traditional grammar that was taught at school to generations of reluctant and uninterested pupils. Modern linguistics is undoubtedly more empirical and objective than traditional grammar. Terminology and notation Terminology means the vocabulary of technical terms used in a particular field, subject, science, or art; nomenclature. Notation refers to a system of figures or symbols used in a specialized field to represent numbers, quantities, tones, or values. Why is the linguist so prone to the creation of new terms? Why is he not not contento to talk about sounds, words and parts of speech, instead of inventing such new technical terms as phoneme, morpheme, and form class? The answer is that most of the everyday terms that are used with reference to language many of which, incidentally, originated as technical terms of traditional grammar are more imprecise or ambiguous. The specialized vocabulary of linguistics, if it is kept under control and properly used, serves to clarify, rather to confuse. It eliminates a good deal of ambiguity and possible misunderstanding. As with terminology, so with notation. We need to be able to identify exactly what bits, parts, or features of a language we are referring to. The use of special notational conventions makes this a lot easier. For example, we might need to distinguish between the meaning of a word and its form and between each of these and the word itself. Linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive