Linguistics: An Introduction

The study of language is termed as linguistics. It focuses on the analysis of the form of the language as well as its meaning and context. It particularly studies the interplay between sound and meaning. Some of the major subfields within linguistics are phonetics, syntax, morphology and semantics. Phonetics refers to the study of the speech and non-speech sounds. It studies their acoustic and articulatory properties. The field of study which focuses on the rules, principles and processes which govern the sentence structure within a language is termed as syntax. The formation of words and their relationship with other words in a given language are studied within morphology. The linguistic and philosophical meaning of language, as well as the relationship between signifiers and signified, are dealt with in semantics. This book unfolds the innovative aspects of linguistics which will be crucial for the progress of this field in the future. It explores all the important aspects of this field in the present day scenario. This textbook will prove to be immensely beneficial to students and researchers in this field.