linguistics


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lin·guis·tics

 (lĭng-gwĭs′tĭks)
n. (used with a sing. verb)
The study of the nature, structure, and variation of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

linguistics

(lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks)
n
(Linguistics) (functioning as singular) the scientific study of language. See also historical linguistics, descriptive linguistics
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lin•guis•tics

(lɪŋˈgwɪs tɪks)

n.
(used with a sing. v.) the study of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
[1850–55]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Linguistics


1. excessive use of the sound b.
2. improper articulation of this sound. — betacist, n.
the study of the relations between physiology and speech. — biolinguist, n.
the description and analysis of the distinctive units used in the sign language of the deaf. — cherologist, n. — cherologic, cherological, adj.
the study and description of the change or development in the structural systems of a language over a stated period of time. Also called historical linguistics. Cf. synchronic linguistics. — diachronic, adj.
a variety of a language peculiar to a particular region or group within a larger community, usually but not always existing in the spoken form only. — dialectal, adj.
the study of dialects with regard to their geographic distribution, as well as how their distribution may be affected by geography, e.g., the spread of a particular dialect being halted at a mountain range, forest belt, body of water, etc.
1. the study of dialects and dialect features.
2. the linguistic features of a dialect. — dialectician, dialectologist, n. — dialectologie, dialectological, adj.
1. the formation of sounds like those in nature; onomatopoesis.
2. the tendency of paired sounds to become more similar phonetically, as the d sound in iced tea which has become a t; assimilation. — echoic, adj.
the study of the origin and history of individual words. — etymologist, n. — etymological, adj.
the reanalysis of a word by native speakers into a new element or elements, e.g. hamburger (properly ‘from Hamburg’) being split into ham- and -burger; and the subsequent combination of -burger with a number of words in which it is used to mean ‘ground patty.’
the inability to pronounce the soft palatal consonants such as g and k.
the study or science of linguistics in relation to geography. — geolinguist, n. — geolinguistic, adj.
the science or study of glossemes, the smallest unit of linguistic communication. — glossematic, adj.
Archaic.
1. a linguist; a philologist.
2. one who compiles glossaries.
Archaic.
linguistics.
a statistical and lexical study of two languages deriving from a common source to determine the time of their divergence, as English and German. Cf. lexicostatistics. — glottochronologist, n. — glottochronological, adj.
the science of linguistics.
1. the study of the formal system of a language, especially the aspects of sound, forms, and syntax.
2. a work detailing such an analysis. — grammarian, n. — grammatic, grammatical, adj.
the study of systems of writing and their relationship to the systems of the languages they represent. Also called graphonomy. — graphemic, adj.
1. a word formed from elements drawn from different languages.
2. the practice of coining such words. — hybrid, n., adj.
a person’s individual speech habits.
Phonetics.
1. the replacement of l for r in speech.
2. the mispronunciation of l. Cf. lambdacism.
Phonetics.
the mispronunciation of double l, giving it the sound of y or ly.
2. Cf. rhotacism. substitution of the sound l for another sound, as that of r. Also labdacism. Cf. lallation.
the writing, editing, or compiling of dictionaries. — lexicographer, n. — lexicographic, lexicographical, adj.
the study of the meanings of words and of idiomatic combinations. — lexicologist, n. — lexicologic, lexicological, adj.
the study of languages and their vocabularies by statistical methods for historical purposes. Cf. glottochronology. — lexicostatistic, lexicostatistical, adj.
Rare. the art of defining words or compiling lexicons. — lexigraphic, adj.
the classification of languages by structural similarity, e.g., similarity of syntactic or phonemic features, as opposed to classification on the basis of shared linguistic ancestry.
the science or study of language in relation to its cultural context. — metalinguist, n. — metalinguistic, metalinguistical, adj.
the study and description of the morphemes of a language, i.e., its minimum grammatical units, as wait and -ed in waited. — morphemicist, n.
1. a branch of linguistics that studies and describes patterns of word formation, including inflection, derivation, and compounding of a language.
2. such patterns of a particular language. — morphologist, n. — morphological, adj.
1. the study of the relations between morphemes and their phonetic realizations, components, or distribution contexts.
2. the body of data concerning these relations in a specific language. — morphophonemicist, n. — morphophonemic, adj.
a tendency toward nasality in pronouncing words. Also nasality.
onomastics. — onomasiologist, n. — onomasiologic, onomasiological, adj.
the study of names and their origins. — onomastic, adj. — onomastician, n.
the study of correct pronunciation. — orthoepist, n. — orthoepic, orthoepical, orthoepistic, adj.
the state or condition of containing the same root or stem, as perilous and parlous. — paronym, n.
1. the study of written records to determine their authenticity, original form, and meaning.
2. linguistics, especially historical linguistics. — philologist, philologer, n. — philologic, philological, adj.
phonemics.
1. the study and description of phonemes, i.e., the set of basic units of sound used in a language and phonemic systems.
2. the phonemic system of a given language. Also phonematics. — phonemicist, n.
1. the science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and perception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription.
2. the science or study of speech sounds with respect to their role in distinguishing meanings among words.
3. the phonetic system of a particular language. Cf. phonology. — phonetician, n. — phonetic, phonetical, adj.
1. the study of the history and theory of sound changes in a language or in two or more languages comparatively.
2. the phonetics and phonemics of a language at a stated time; synchronic phonology. — phonologist, n. — phonological, adj.
the study of the relationships between language and the behavioral mechanisms of its users, especially in language learning by children. — psycholinguist, n. — psycholinguistic, adj.
Phonetics.
1. a misarticulation of the sound r or the substitution of another sound for it.
2. Cf. lambdacism. substitution of the sound sound r for another sound, as that of l.
2. the excessive use of the sound r.
3. Phonology. replacement of the sound z or s by r in Indo-European languages, as German wesen, English were. — rhotacize, v. — rhotacistic, adj.
1. the study of the meaning of words.
2. the study of linguistic development by examining and classifying changes in meaning. Also called semasiology, sematology, semology. — semanticist, n. — semantic, adj.
semantics.
the study or science of signs; semantics. — semeiologist, semiologist, n. — semeiologic, semiologic, semeiological, semiological, adj.
the study of the relationship between symbology and language. — semiotician, semioticist, n.
a faulty pronunciation of sibilant sounds.
an emphasis in research and description upon the systematic relations of formal distinctions in a given language. Also called structural linguistics. — structuralist, n.
the study of the phonological, morphological, and syntactic features of a language at a stated time. Also called descriptive linguistics. Cf. diachronism.
the study of the principles by which words are used in phrases and sentences to construct meaningful combinations. — syntactic, syntactical, adj.
the study of the tagmemes of a language, i.e., the minimal units of grammatical construction, embodying such phenomena as distinctive word order and grammatical agreement. — tagmemic, adj.
the phonetic study and science of the tonal aspects of language. — tonetician, n. — tonetic, adj.
an advocate or student of the theory of transformational grammar, a system of grammatical analysis that uses transformations of base sentences to explain the relations between thought and its syntactic manifestation and to express the relations between elements in a sentence, clause, or phrase, or between different forms of a word or phrase, as active or passive forms of a verb.
Phonetics. the system of vowels in a given language. — vocalic, adj.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

linguistics

1. The study of the structure and uses of language.
2. The scientific study of language. It has produced many specialized fields of study such as phonetics, grammar, and semantics.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.linguistics - the scientific study of languagelinguistics - the scientific study of language  
linguistic performance - (linguistics) a speaker's actual use of language in real situations; what the speaker actually says, including grammatical errors and other non-linguistic features such as hesitations and other disfluencies (contrasted with linguistic competence)
tone - (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages; "the Beijing dialect uses four tones"
complementary distribution, complementation - (linguistics) a distribution of related speech sounds or forms in such a way that they only appear in different contexts
linguistic competence - (linguistics) a speaker's implicit, internalized knowledge of the rules of their language (contrasted with linguistic performance)
feature of speech, feature - (linguistics) a distinctive characteristic of a linguistic unit that serves to distinguish it from other units of the same kind
science, scientific discipline - a particular branch of scientific knowledge; "the science of genetics"
cognitive science - the field of science concerned with cognition; includes parts of cognitive psychology and linguistics and computer science and cognitive neuroscience and philosophy of mind
computational linguistics - the use of computers for linguistic research and applications
dialect geography, linguistic geography - the study of the geographical distribution of linguistic features
etymology - the study of the sources and development of words
diachronic linguistics, diachrony, historical linguistics - the study of linguistic change; "the synchrony and diachrony of language"
grammar - the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics)
descriptive grammar - a grammar that is produced by descriptive linguistics
prescriptive grammar - a grammar that is produced by prescriptive linguistics
phrase structure, sentence structure, syntax - the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
syntax - studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences
generative grammar - (linguistics) a type of grammar that describes syntax in terms of a set of logical rules that can generate all and only the infinite number of grammatical sentences in a language and assigns them all the correct structural description
phonemics, phonology - the study of the sound system of a given language and the analysis and classification of its phonemes
neurolinguistics - the branch of linguistics that studies the relation between language and the structure and function of the nervous system
pragmatics - the study of language use
semantics - the study of language meaning
sociolinguistics - the study of language in relation to its sociocultural context
structural linguistics, structuralism - linguistics defined as the analysis of formal structures in a text or discourse
synchronic linguistics - the study of a language without reference to its historical context
descriptive linguistics - a description (at a given point in time) of a language with respect to its phonology and morphology and syntax and semantics without value judgments
prescriptive linguistics - an account of how a language should be used instead of how it is actually used; a prescription for the `correct' phonology and morphology and syntax and semantics
descriptivism - (linguistics) a doctrine supporting or promoting descriptive linguistics
prescriptivism - (linguistics) a doctrine supporting or promoting prescriptive linguistics
derivative - (linguistics) a word that is derived from another word; "`electricity' is a derivative of `electric'"
descriptor, form, signifier, word form - the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; "the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached"
root word, stem, root, theme, radical, base - (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem"
participant role, semantic role - (linguistics) the underlying relation that a constituent has with the main verb in a clause
postposition - (linguistics) the placing of one linguistic element after another (as placing a modifier after the word that it modifies in a sentence or placing an affix after the base to which it is attached)
preposition - (linguistics) the placing of one linguistic element before another (as placing a modifier before the word it modifies in a sentence or placing an affix before the base to which it is attached)
topicalization - (linguistics) emphasis placed on the topic or focus of a sentence by preposing it to the beginning of the sentence; placing the topic at the beginning of the sentence is typical for English; "`Those girls, they giggle when they see me' and `Cigarettes, you couldn't pay me to smoke them' are examples of topicalization"
2.linguistics - the humanistic study of language and literature
arts, humanistic discipline, humanities, liberal arts - studies intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (rather than occupational or professional skills); "the college of arts and sciences"
dialectology - the branch of philology that is devoted to the study of dialects
lexicology - the branch of linguistics that studies the lexical component of language
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
عِلْم اللسانِيّاتعلم اللغةلسانيات
езикознаниелингвистика
jazykovědalingvistika
lingvistiksprogforskningsprogvidenskab
keeleteadus
kielitiedelingvistiikka
jezikoslovljelingvistika
nyelvészet
málvísindi
言語学
linguistica
kalbotyralingvistika
językoznawstwolingwistyka
lingüística
lingvistică
jezikoslovje
lingvistikspråkvetenskap
لسانيات
ngôn ngữ học

linguistics

[lɪŋˈgwɪstɪks] NSINGlingüística f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

linguistics

[lɪŋˈgwɪstɪks] nlinguistique f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

linguistics

n singLinguistik f, → Sprachwissenschaft f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

linguistics

[lɪŋˈgwɪstɪks] nsglinguistica
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

linguist

(ˈliŋgwist) noun
a person who studies language and/or is good at languages.
linˈguistic adjective
of languages.
linˈguistics noun singular
the science of languages.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
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This, along with other semiotic misadventures (such as conflating Saint Nick and Old Nick), leads Arnold to an interest in linguistics that, intriguingly, foreshadows, rather than emerges from, the challenges his last name will later come to pose.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, there were two centers where one could study the language of the Amarna letters from Canaan ("Amarna linguistics").
Chapman has written a book for linguistics students to provide them with the necessary philosophical background for many aspects of linguistic theory and methodology.
Based on the Englewood, Colo.-based company's patented advanced linguistics engine, this product analyzes all content of inbound and out-bound Internet traffic using pre-defined categories, enabling companies to immediately identify and terminate any activity that falls outside of a company's pre-defined acceptable use policy, including the communication of confidential consumer information.
The Center for Applied Linguistics and the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center in Iowa say many public schools have been scaling back of eliminating foreign language programs.
American University linguistics professor Naomi Baron says text messaging is worrisome because "so much of American society has become sloppy of laissez faire about the mechanics of writing."
She concentrates specifically on Ruskin, Owen Jones, Semper and Riegl, and in general builds a parallel between the reference to ornament by architectural writers, and the development of modern linguistics. So she uses the terminology of the latter to define the former, in terms of emblem, symbol, sign or signifier; or, later, of mimesis, analogy and emulation.
Towards accountability: A point of orientation for post-modern applied linguistics in the third millennium
Stylistics and literary linguistics examine the use of linguistics and language study in the analysis of literary and non-literary texts and the effects of particular language on readers.
ERIC Descriptors: Grammar; Linguistics; Semitic Languages; Language Research; Arabs; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Vocabulary; Translation; Diachronic Linguistics

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