ETYM Cf. French linguistique.
1. The humanistic study of language and literature; SYN. philology.
2. The scientific study of language.
Scientific study of language. Linguistics has many branches, such as origins (historical linguistics), the changing way language is pronounced (phonetics), derivation of words through various languages (etymology), development of meanings (semantics), and the arrangement and modifications of words to convey a message (grammar).
Applied linguistics is the use of lingustics to aid understanding in other areas of language-based study, such as dictionary compilation and foreign-language teaching.
The analytic study of human language. Close ties exist between linguistics and computer science because of the mutual interest in grammar, syntax, semantics, formal language theory, and natural-language processing.