{"id":31,"date":"2019-06-07T05:53:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T05:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp13.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=31"},"modified":"2022-01-10T08:47:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T08:47:53","slug":"levels-and-scope-of-linguistics","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp13\/chapter\/levels-and-scope-of-linguistics\/","title":{"rendered":"Levels and Scope of Linguistics"},"content":{"raw":"
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\u00a0Learning outcome<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span>Every natural language has several levels in its structure and to understand that language in its complete holistic form it becomes essential to understand the levels of linguistics. In this module we will discuss various levels and scope of Linguistics. It will certainly help in better understanding of language structure.<\/p>\r\n

Introduction:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Linguistics does not highlight everyday knowledge or mastery of a specific language. It is a possibility that a linguist may know only one language, or he may know numerous languages, or may even deal with a language he does not know at all. His main aim is to study the ways in which language is systematized to realize human needs, as a system of communication.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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A person who knows many languages is known as a\u00a0polyglot, while\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0linguist is one,<\/span>who studies general principles of language organization and language behaviour with reference to some concrete languages.<\/p>\r\n

We can say that linguistics is learning about language rather than learning a language. This distinction is often explained as the difference between learning how a car works and learning how to drive a car. When we learn how to drive a car, we learn a set of habits and do some\u00a0practice\u2014this\u00a0is similar to learning how to speak a language. When we learn how the car works, we open up its mechanism, study it and investigate the relationship of its parts to one another. This is similar to what we do in a scientific study of language, or linguistics: we investigate the mechanism of language, its parts and how all these parts fit together to perform particular functions, and why they are arranged or organized in a certain manner. Just as while driving a car, we are using its various components, while speaking a language we are using the sounds, words, etc. of that language; behind these uses is the mechanism, which enables us to do so. We study language because it is important for us to understand this mechanism.<\/p>\r\n

Linguistics As A Science<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Linguistics studies language as a phenomenon, which is both objective and flexible having a concrete shape and occurrence. The linguist is bound to study the components of language, e.g. noticing the manifestation of\u00a0speech-sounds,\u00a0or the way in which words commence or end. Language is objective because it is recognizable ad noticeable with the senses, i.e., it can be heard with the ear; the eyes can see it when the vocal organs are in movement etc.<\/p>\r\n

But it cannot be denied that linguistics is also a social science because it studies language, in the form of social behaviour and affects during interaction between human beings in society. So it is not just to call it purely objective phenomena. There is one more aspect linked to it. It is part of the study of humanities as well as it deals with human language and human interaction. This includes the study of literature, and appreciation of the beauty and music of poetry. Moreover, since every branch of knowledge uses language, linguistics is central to all areas of knowledge. For linguistics, the conventional divisions of science, art and humanities are not appropriate. As Lyons puts it, \u2018linguistics has natural links with a wide range of academic disciplines. To say that linguistics is a science is not to deny that, by virtue of its subject matter, it is closely\u00a0related to such eminently human disciplines as philosophy and literary criticism.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Levels of Linguistics<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Phoneme is known as a single distinguishable sound that is the smallest indivisible unit. When single sounds or phonemes combine together to make larger units of sounds, this combination into a larger meaningful unit is called a morpheme. Further morphemes combine to practice larger units of words, and words combine to form a sizable unit or sentence and numerous sentences combine or interrelate to create a integrated piece of speech or writing, known as a text or discourse. At each stage (or level), there are certain rules that operate which authorize the manifestation and combination of smaller units. Thus, rule of phonology regulate the manifestation and combination of particular phoneme, rules of\u00a0word-formation\u00a0cover the behaviour of particular morphemes; rules of\u00a0sentence-formation\u00a0determine the combination and positioning of words in a sentence. Each level is a system in its own right. It is important to remember that, because of the presence of rules at each level, we can analyze each level\u00a0independently\u00a0<\/span>of the other. This means that if we study one level, e.g. phonology or the\u00a0sound-system,\u00a0it is not inevitable to study another level, say that of\u00a0sentence-formation.We can study phonology and syntax independently.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

We can represent these levels in the following manner, with each level of analysis corresponding to each level of the structure of the language:<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n \r\n

Phonology and Phonetics:<\/strong> Phonology studies the combination of sounds into organized units of speech, the formation of syllables and larger units. Phonetics studies language at the level of sounds. How sounds are uttered by the human speech mechanism and acknowledged by the acoustic mechanism, how sounds can be differentiated and characterized by the manner in which they are produced.<\/p>\r\n

Morphology<\/strong> studies the patterns of creation of words by the combination of sounds into negligible distinctive units of meaning called morphemes. Words can be made up of single morphemes such as \u2018cat\u2019 or combinations of morphemes, e.g. \u2018cats\u2019 is made up of two morphemes: \u2018cat\u2019 + \u2018s\u2019. Morphology deals with the systems of combination of morphemes to form words, as suffixes or prefixes are attached to single morphemes to form words. It studies the changes that take place in the structure of words, e.g. the morpheme \u2018gives\u2019 changes to \u2018gave\u2019 and \u2018given\u2019\u2013\u2013these changes signify a change in tense.<\/p>\r\n

Syntax<\/strong> is the level at which we study how words combine to form phrases, phrases combine to form clauses and clauses join to make sentences. Syntax also tries to describe how these elements function in the sentence, i.e. what is their role in the sentence. For example, the word \u2018boy\u2019 is a noun. However, in each of the following sentences, it functions in different roles:<\/p>\r\n\r\n