Linguistics is the science of language sections of linguistics. Linguistics as a science. General and private linguistics

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Linguistics as a science

1. Linguistics as a science. The place of linguistics in the system of sciences

Linguistics, or linguistics, is the science of language, its social nature and functions, its internal structure, the laws of its functioning and historical development, and the classification of specific languages.

Language is the most important means of human communication; there is not and cannot be a human society and people that would not have a language, and there is no man himself without a language. Language as a means of communication and as a system of signs is studied by many sciences.

Linguistics is connected with all the main sections modern science, and this is explained by the huge role that language plays in all spheres of human activity, including in the process of cognition and communication.

First of all, linguistics is one of the social sciences. It is closely related to such social sciences like history, economical geography, psychology, pedagogy.

Linguistics is connected with history because. the history of a language is part of the history of a people. With the history of society, the vocabulary of the language, and the scope of its activity, and the nature of its functioning also change.

Linguistics is associated, in particular, with such historical disciplines as archeology, which studies history from material sources - tools, weapons, jewelry, utensils, and ethnography - the science of the way of life and culture of peoples.

Language as a product of the speech activity of an individual is the subject of study of psychology and linguistics.

After all, mental and other mental processes are reflected in speech, in the categories of language - in the analysis of figurative meanings of words, one-part and interrogative sentences, separate members proposals, the actual division of the proposal. In the middle of the XX century. the science of psycholinguistics arose, which studies speech activity as a unity of a communicative act and a mental process, as a unity of generalization and communication.

Linguistics is also connected with pedagogy. We are talking here, first of all, about the existence of such a discipline as the methodology of teaching a language.

Modern methodology covers not only the methodology of teaching the native language, but also the methodology of teaching a foreign language.

Of the natural sciences, linguistics comes into contact mainly with human physiology and anthropology. The speech apparatus and the production of speech sounds have a physiological basis, since the sense organs, the muscular apparatus and the human nervous system participate in the speech process.

The interests of linguists and anthropologists converge in the classification of races and languages and in the study of the question of the origin of speech, which will be reported later.

Of course, the connection of linguistics with the social sciences is stronger and closer than with the biological and medical sciences. This once again emphasizes that, despite the physiological basis of articulate speech, language is a social phenomenon.

Linguistics, like other sciences, is connected with the philosophical sciences. It is not for nothing that such a science as the philosophy of language has recently been developing, the focus of which is the idea of language as the key to understanding thinking and knowledge.

Linguistics is even connected with exact sciences: cybernetics, informatics, mathematical logic.

From the point of view of cybernetics, language is a constant "carrier" of information, it participates in control processes, and it itself is a controlled and self-regulating system. Cybernetics tries to understand language as one of the controlling and controlled systems.

Informatics studies language as a means of storing, processing and issuing information about documents - information carriers.

Mathematical logic uses language as a natural sign system from which material can be drawn, for example, to solve formal logic problems.

There is a close connection between linguistics and semiotics, which studies the general in the structure and functioning of various sign systems that store and transmit information. Since language is the main, most complex and, so to speak, classical sign system, semiotics has language in front of it as an object of direct observation and interest, however, semiotics has its own aspect of vision and understanding of language, which does not coincide with linguistic: semiotics in language is of interest general properties signs.

However, linguistics is most closely associated with literary criticism, which sees in language a means of forming and expressing and a form of existence of the artistic content of works of literature.

Literary criticism and linguistics constitute a common science - philology, the subject of which is the text. Linguistics analyzes language means in speech, text style.

Thus, linguistics is associated with many sciences. Even recently, many new sciences have appeared that combine the features of linguistics and other areas - for example, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics.

2. Sections of linguistics

Linguistics as a science is divided into general and particular, theoretical and applied.

General linguistics as a branch of the science of language has as its goal:

It can be synchronic, describing the facts of the language at some point in its history (most often, the facts modern language), or diachronic (historical), tracing the development of a language over a certain period of time. A variety of diachronic linguistics is comparative-historical linguistics, which finds out, by comparing related languages, their historical past.

General and particular linguistics are the components of theoretical linguistics, which explores linguistic laws and formulates them as theories. It can be: 1) empirical: describing real speech; 2) normative: indicating how “should” be spoken and written.

Applied linguistics is the application of linguistic knowledge to practical activities.

An important branch of practical activity of linguists is the teaching of native and non-native languages in general and special schools. This activity causes the compilation of various kinds of reference books, primarily dictionaries and grammars.

An important branch of practical activity of linguists is also the translation from one language to another, the development of terminology, the improvement of the alphabet and spelling, the creation of a written language for previously non-literate peoples, etc.

Applied linguistics solves many social problems: political, economic, educational, religious, engineering, military, medical, cultural.

3. Problems of General and Private Linguistics

General linguistics deals with the general features of human language. General linguistics as a branch of the science of language has as its goal:

1) determine the nature of the language, its essence;

2) to establish the main aspects of the science of language and the tiers of the language, as well as the sciences that study them - morphology, lexicology, etc.;

3) give a taxonomy of languages, create a classification of languages;

4) develop a methodology for linguistic analysis, systematize and improve the methods, techniques and techniques of linguistics.

Within the framework of general linguistics, typological linguistics is distinguished, which compares both related and unrelated languages with each other, a comparison aimed at clarifying the general patterns of the language. General, and in particular typological, linguistics reveals and formulates linguistic universals, i.e. provisions valid for all languages of the world (absolute universals) or for the vast majority of languages (statistical universals).

Absolute universals are, for example, the following statements: 1) in all languages there are vowels and consonants;

2) people speak in sentences in all languages;

3) all languages have proper names;

4) if in a given language there is a difference in grammatical gender, then there is necessarily a difference in number in it. An example of a statistical universal: in almost all languages, at least two numbers differ in pronouns.

One of the important tasks of general linguistics is the scientific definition of concepts (such as "vowel" and "consonant", "sentence", "proper name", etc.).

Private linguistics deals with a single language (Russian, English, Uzbek, etc.) or a group of related languages (say, Slavic languages).

It can be synchronic, describing the facts of the language at some point in its history (most often the facts of the modern language), or diachronic (historical), tracing the development of the language over a certain period of time.

A variety of diachronic linguistics is comparative-historical linguistics, which finds out, by comparing related languages, their historical past.

Any particular linguistics contains some general information about the language, reflects the properties of the language in general. So, in the science of the Russian language (Russian studies), phonetics and grammar stand out, this is also true for other particular linguistics and general linguistics.

However, any particular linguistics contains such information that is true only in this particular case, but cannot be recognized as true for all languages. So, in Russian, a noun has a gender that is not, for example, in English and Armenian, in all Turkic and Finno-Ugric languages.

Even such a feature of a noun as the ability to carry a preposition with it is not common. Many languages use for this purpose not a preposition, but a postposition.

4. Essence and nature of language

Some scientists considered language to be a biological phenomenon, putting it on a par with such phenomena of human life as the ability to eat, drink, walk, etc. It turned out, in such a way, that the language is allegedly inherited and incorporated in the very biological being of man.

This view of the nature of language is fundamentally wrong. It is now well known that language is not inherited, not passed down from elder to younger, like the transmission of certain biological traits of a race (hair color, face shape, etc.). The child begins to speak not in the language of the parents, but in the language of those around him. Many cases are known when Chinese children, due to special circumstances, began to speak Chinese earlier. English language than in Chinese, Russian children began to speak earlier French than in Russian, etc.

Thus, the language of an individual person arises and develops only in the collective, only under the influence of the speech of the collective. Therefore, language is a social phenomenon.

Already in the works of Humboldt and Hegel, the idea was expressed of satisfying the human need for communication with language. Western European linguists of the early 20th century were staunch supporters of the understanding of language as a social phenomenon. V. American linguistics of the XX century. the social aspects of the language attracted the attention of E. Sapir and B. Whorf - the founders of a special linguistic direction, called ethnolinguistics. In our domestic linguistics, the problem of “Language and Society” was comprehended from different angles by Vinogradov, Vinokur, Larin, Polivanov, Shcherba and other scientists.

Human communication is a phenomenon that is profoundly different from what we observe in the animal world, qualitatively more complex. Human communication is carried out mainly through spoken language and also through writing. Non-verbal (non-linguistic) forms also play a significant role in human communication.

Language communication is always based on the assimilation (spontaneous or conscious) of a given language by the participants in communication, not on innate, but on acquired knowledge. With rare exceptions, language communication is intentional, conscious. This means that, using the language, one can abstract from the situation, talk about what is not present at the moment, about the past and the future, generalize and make assumptions, i.e. think, you can refer to an imaginary interlocutor. The content of information transmitted by language is, in principle, unlimited, just like human knowledge itself is unlimited. Linguistic communication acts as a qualitatively special exchange of information - not just the communication of some facts or the transmission of emotions associated with them, but also the exchange of thoughts about these facts.

The units of the language are signs - simple and complex (sounds, word morphemes, phrases and sentences). All signs of the language are used only for the purpose of communication, only for the transmission of social information.

5. Language features

The main function of the language is communicative (from the Latin sottinicatio "communication"), its purpose is to serve as an instrument of communication, i.e. first of all, the exchange of thoughts. But language is not only a means of conveying a “ready thought”. Thought is not only expressed in the word, but is accomplished in the word. Therefore, the communicative function of the language is inextricably linked with its second central function - thought-forming. With this function in mind, the largest linguist-thinker of the first half of XIX in. Wilhelm Humboldt called language "the forming organ of thought". The organic unity of the two central functions of language and the continuity of its existence in society make language the custodian and treasury of the socio-historical experience of generations.

Separate aspects of the communicative function are singled out, in other words, a number of more particular functions: ascertaining - to serve for a simple “neutral” report of a fact, interrogative - to serve to request a fact, appellative (from Latin appello “I am addressing someone”) - serve as a means of calling, inducing to certain actions, expressive - to express (by choice of words or intonation) the personality of the speaker, his moods and emotions, contact-establishing - the function of creating and maintaining contact between interlocutors, metalinguistic - the function of interpreting linguistic facts (for example, explaining the meaning of a word , incomprehensible to the interlocutor), aesthetic - the function of aesthetic influence. A special place is occupied by the function of an indicator (indicator) of belonging to a certain group of people (to a nation, nationality, to a particular profession, etc.).

Particular functions of the language usually appear in various combinations with each other. The statement, as a rule, is multifunctional. So, vivid expression can be in an incentive sentence, and in a question, and in a greeting formula, and when stating a fact, and when explaining a word that turned out to be incomprehensible; a sentence that is narrative in form (for example, It's getting late) may contain an ulterior motive, i.e. perform an appellate function.

6. The concept of the system and structure of the language

Language has internal order organizing its parts into a coherent whole. Consequently, systemic and structural nature characterize the language and its units as a whole from different angles.

The language system is an inventory of its units, united in categories and tiers according to typical relations; the structure of the language is formed by relations between tiers and parts of units; consequently, the structure of a language is only one of the signs of a language system. Language unit, language category, language tier, language relations - these concepts do not coincide, although they are all important for revealing the concept of a language system.

Units of a language are its permanent elements, which differ from each other in purpose, structure and place in the language system. According to their purpose, language units are divided into nominative, communicative and combat. The main nominative unit is the word (lexeme), the communicative unit is the sentence. Structural units of the language serve as a means of constructing and designing nominative and communicative units; building units are phonemes and morphemes, as well as word forms and word combinations.

Units of the language are distributed into categories and tiers of the language. Language categories are groups of homogeneous language units; categories are combined on the basis of a common, categorical feature, usually a semantic one. So, in the Russian language there are such categories as tense and aspect of the verb, case and gender of the name (noun and adjective), the category of collectiveness.

The tier of the language is a set of units and categories of the same type of language. The main tiers are phonetic, morphological, syntactic and lexical. Both units within a category and categories within a tier are related to each other on the basis of type relationships. Language relations are those relationships that are found between tiers and categories, units and their parts. The main types of relations are paradigmatic and syntagmatic, associative and hyponymic (hierarchical).

Associative relations arise on the basis of the coincidence of representations in time, i.e. images of the phenomena of reality. There are three types of associations: by adjacency, by similarity and by contrast. These types of associations play an important role in the use of epithets and metaphors, in the formation of figurative meanings of words.

Hierarchical relations are relations between heterogeneous elements, their subordination to each other as general and particular, generic and specific, higher and lower. Hierarchical relations are observed between units of different tiers of the language, between words and forms when they are combined into parts of speech, between syntactic units when they are combined into syntactic types. Associative, hierarchical and paradigmatic relationships are opposed to syntagmatic ones in that the latter are linear.

7. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations of language units

language communication syntagmatic paradigmatic

Paradigmatic relations are those relations that unite language units into groups, categories, categories. Paradigmatic relations are based, for example, on the consonant system, the declension system, the synonymic series. When using language, paradigmatic relations allow you to choose the desired unit, as well as form forms and words by analogy.

A paradigm is a relationship between units that can take the place of each other in the same position. For example, He was tall (medium, low), words-o, words-a, words-y, etc. In these examples, the lexemes high, low, medium and inflections - o, - a, - y are reduced to one paradigmatic series.

Syntagmatic relations unite language units in their simultaneous sequence. Words are built on syntagmatic relations as a set of morphemes and syllables, phrases and analytical names, sentences (as sets of sentence members) and complex sentences. When using a language, syntagmatic relations allow the simultaneous use of two or more units of the language.

Syntagma is an intonation-semantic unity that expresses one concept in a given context and in a given situation and can consist of one word, a group of words and a whole sentence.

Syntagmatics includes language rules for the compatibility of single-level language units and their implementations in speech. the elementary syntagmatic relation is binomial: for example, a consonant + a vowel in a syllable, a derivational stem + a derivational affix, a subject + a predicate, etc.

The difference between syntagmatics and paradigmatics can be explained by the following example. The form of the word road (vin. p. singular), on the one hand, recalls other forms of the given word (road, road, roads, etc.) and words that are close in meaning (way, path, path). The named forms of the word are case; they assign the noun road to a specific declension type and paradigm. The word road and nouns close to it in meaning form a synonymous group, which is built on the paradigmatic relations of lexical meanings.

On the other hand, the road form can be combined with verbs, adjectives and nouns: I see (cross, build, etc.) the road; wide (forest, summer, etc.) road; a road in a field, a road in a village, a friend's road, etc. The above phrases reveal the formal and semantic connections of words built on syntagmatic relations.

8. The concept of synchrony and diachrony in the study of language

Synchrony (from the Greek synchronos - simultaneous) - the state and study of the language as a system of interrelated and interdependent elements at a certain point in its development. Synchronous language learning is the subject of descriptive (static) linguistics. Language is a system of interrelated and interdependent elements. The composition of these elements and the nature of their connection determine the specifics of each language at all its levels (in phonetics, grammar, vocabulary).

Synchronous language learning is possible not only when it comes to state of the art of this language, but also when it comes to its history: thus, it is possible to establish the nature of the system of other Russian. language of the 11th century, the nature of the language system of the 16th century, the nature of the system of modern. Russian language.

The synchronous system of language is not fixed and absolutely stable, it always has something that is lost and something that is born. The presence of such heterogeneous elements is reflected in the existence of variable phenomena - pronunciation, grammatical, lexical variants. For example, in Russian the language has pronunciation options [zh "] \ and [g], options for the formation of morphological forms (locksmiths and locksmiths), lexical options (farmer and grain grower). The mobility of the system is also reflected in the presence of “weak” links in it (unproductive models, peripheral structures , isolated forms, etc.). and go to new system. A new synchronous state of language emerges, a new synchronous system.

Diachrony (from the Greek dia - through, through and chronos - time) is the study of the development of a language, individual linguistic facts and the language system as a whole in a historical aspect.

Language is in constant motion, change; in each given period of the life of a language in its system, at all levels of this system (in phonetics, grammar, vocabulary) there are elements that are dying, lost and elements that are emerging, emerging. Gradually, some phenomena in the language disappear, others appear. These processes form the path of the language in time. For example, in the 10th-20th centuries. Russian the language lost 6 out of 11 vowels, but increased the composition of consonant phonemes: instead of 26, there were 37 of them; he lost the multi-type declension of nouns and the complex system of forms of the past tense of the verb, but developed the categories of animation - the inanimateness of nouns and the verb form. Studying all these phenomena and processes in time, diachronic linguistics establishes the causes of language changes, the time of their occurrence and completion, the ways of development of these phenomena and processes. A diachronic view of the language allows us to understand how the phenomena that characterize its current state have developed.

At the same time, linguistic phenomena do not exist in isolation from each other, but in connection with each other, forming an integral linguistic system. Therefore, a change in one phenomenon entails a change in other phenomena and, consequently, the entire language system.

It follows from this that diachronic linguistics should study not only the history of individual phenomena, but also the history of the language system as a whole. This can be done by establishing synchronous slices in the history of the language system and their continuity, transitions from one to another. Synchronous slice - the state of the language system, established for a certain point in time. In the history of the language, several synchronous sections can be identified, relating to different periods of the development of the language; time intervals between slices are periods when there was a change in individual phenomena, which led to a new state of the system. Thus, in the study of a language, diachrony and synchrony are not opposed, but complement and enrich each other: scientific knowledge of a language in its entirety is possible only with a combination of synchronic and diachronic methods of studying it.

9. Semiotic aspect of language. Comparative characteristiclanguage and other sign systems

All systems of means used by a person to exchange information are symbolic, or semiotic, i.e. systems of signs and rules for their use. The science that studies sign systems is called semiotics, or semiology (from other Greek sema - a sign).

Several types of signs are used in society. The most famous signs-signs, signs-signals, signs-symbols and linguistic signs. Signs-signs carry some information about the object (phenomenon) due to a natural connection with them: smoke in the forest can inform about a fire, a splash on the river - about fish playing in it, a frosty pattern on the window glass - about the temperature outside. Signs-signals carry information according to the condition, by agreement and have no natural connection with the objects (phenomena) they inform about: a green rocket can mean the beginning of an attack or the beginning of some kind of festival, two stones on the shore show the place of the ford, a blow to gong means end of work. Signs-symbols carry information about an object or phenomenon based on the abstraction from it of some properties and signs, perceived as representatives of the entire phenomenon, its essence; these properties and signs can be recognized in signs-symbols (a drawing of hands joined in a mutual shake is a symbol of friendship, a dove is a symbol of peace).

Language signs occupy a very special place in the typology of signs. Language is also a sign system. But it is the most complex of all systems.

A linguistic sign connects not a thing and not a name, but a concept and an acoustic image. Only meaningful units, and first of all the word (lexeme) and morpheme, can be considered linguistic signs. The meaning expressed by a word or morpheme is the content of the corresponding sign.

Let us consider in more detail what linguistic signs have in common with the signs of artificial sign systems.

1. Exhibitors of morphemes and words, as well as exhibitors of road and other signs, are material: in the process of speech, morphemes and words are embodied in sound matter, in sound (and in written fixation, in material outline).

2. All morphemes and words, like non-linguistic signs, have one or another content: in the minds of people, those who know the language, they are associated with the corresponding objects and phenomena, cause the thought of these objects and phenomena and, thus, carry certain information.

3. The content of the signs of artificial systems is a reflection in the human mind of objects, phenomena, situations of reality, these signs serve as a means of generalization and abstraction. This applies to even greater extent to the signs of the language, fixing the results of abstracting work. human thinking. Only the so-called proper names (Neva, Elbrus, Saratov, Sophocles) designate (and, therefore, reflect in their content) individual objects (a certain river, a certain mountain, etc.). All other linguistic signs designate classes of objects and phenomena, and the content of these signs is a generalized reflection of reality.

Thus, the signs of the language are in many respects similar to the signs of other sign systems artificially created by people. But at the same time, language is a sign system of a special kind, noticeably different from artificial systems.

Language is a universal sign system. It serves a person in all areas of his life and activity and therefore must be able to express any new content that needs to be expressed.

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Linguistics (linguistics) is the science of language Scientific research language [Lyons 1978]. The object of the science of language is natural human language. As J Lyons notes, the main difficulty for those who begin to study linguistics is that one must form an unbiased view of the language. Language is familiar, natural, we do not think about it. Each person speaks the mother's language, has an intuitive understanding of the language, studies grammar at school. The difficulty lies in the fact that words such as sentence, letter, word etc. are used by both linguists and non-linguists. Linguists use these words as linguistic terms. In addition, linguistics also has special terminology, like any other science ( seme, sememe, concept, isomorphism, polysemy and etc.).
The French linguist Emile Benveniste emphasized that there is not and cannot be a society, a people that would not have a language. There is no man himself without language. Society is possible only through language, and only through language is the individual possible [Benveniste 1974]. The essence of man rests in language. A man would not be a man if he were denied the opportunity to speak - incessantly, all-encompassing, about everything, in various varieties. We exist primarily in and with language. These thoughts about language belong to the German philosopher M. Heideger.
The great German scientist W. von Humboldt emphasized that a person is a person only thanks to language [Humboldt 1984].
No power can be compared with the power of the tongue, which achieves so much with so little. There is no higher power, and, in fact, all human power stems from it [Benveniste 1974]. What is the source of this mysterious power, which is contained in the language? Why is the existence of society and the individual based on language? The science of language tries to answer this question - linguistics (linguistics).
The American scientist Edward Sapir noted that we do not know a single people who would not have a fully developed language. The most culturally backward South African Bushman speaks with a rich symbolic system, which, in essence, is quite comparable to the speech of an educated Frenchman. In the language of the savages, according to Sapir, there is no rich terminology, there is no subtle distinction between shades that reflect the highest cultural level, more abstract values, but the true foundation of a language is a complete phonetic system, the association of speech elements with meanings, a complex apparatus for the formal expression of relations - we find all this in all languages in a completely developed and systematized form. Many primitive languages, according to Sapir, have a wealth of forms and an abundance of expressive means, far exceeding the formal and expressive possibilities of the languages of modern civilization [Sapir 1993].
Language is an immensely ancient heritage of the human race. The emergence of language probably precedes even the very initial development material culture. The very development of culture could not take place until language, an instrument for expressing meaning, took shape [Sapir 1993]. Sapir defined language as “a purely human, non-instinctive way of conveying thoughts, emotions and desires through specially produced symbols” [Sapir 1993].
The French linguist Joseph Vandries emphasized that language as a social phenomenon could arise only when the human brain was sufficiently developed to use the language [Vandries 1937].
Language is defined as a sign system for the formation and verbal expression of thought, which serves for communication in human society. This is a system of articulate signs that spontaneously arose in human society and is developing, designed for human cognitive activity and communication purposes and capable of expressing the totality of human knowledge and ideas about the world. Language serves to convey messages, information, knowledge about external and inner world. With the help of language, people organize their joint activities. Language participates in the ordering of information received from outside, in the mental activity of understanding the world.

Language is an extremely complex socio-psychological phenomenon. Language is always the language of some people, and at the same time it is the language of each individual. Language is connected with all manifestations of human life - with labor, cognitive activity of people.
The greatest asset of people (language) is constantly unrelenting interest. Language is the subject of attention of many sciences - philosophy, logic, psychology, sociology and many others. For linguistics, language is the only object of study. Linguistics studies language in all its manifestations.
A linguist is interested in all languages. Any language, no matter how “backward” the people speaking it, turns out to be a complex and highly organized system. There is absolutely no connection between the various stages of the cultural development of a society and the types of language used at the respective stages. The study of all languages should be approached from the same positions [Lyons 1978]. The number of oppositions possible when dividing the surrounding reality is, in principle, infinite. Therefore, only those oppositions that play an important role in the life of a given society receive expression in the dictionary of the language. J. Lyons believes that no language can be said to be internally "richer" than any other. Each language is adapted to meet the communicative needs of its speakers.
The linguist's interest in all languages is determined by common goal linguistics - creation scientific theory explaining the structure of natural language. Any linguistic fact must find a place and an explanation within the framework of general theory language.

Cited Literature:

Benveniste E. General linguistics. Per. from fr. M., 1974.

Vandries J. Language. Linguistic introduction to history. Per. from fr. M., 1937.

Humboldt W. background. Selected works on linguistics. Per. with him. M., 1984.

Lyons J. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Per. from English. M., 1978.

Sapir E. Selected Works on Linguistics and Cultural Studies. Per. from English. M., 1993.

3. The connection of linguistics with other sciences

Language serves almost all spheres of human life, therefore, the study of language, the establishment of its place and role in the life of a person and society necessarily leads to broad connections between linguistics and other sciences. Linguistics studies language, taking into account its relations and connections with such manifestations of human life as society, consciousness, thinking, culture, therefore linguistics is connected with all the main sections of modern science - with social (humanitarian) and natural sciences, with medical, technical sciences .
The closest and most ancient connections exist between linguistics and philology. In fact, linguistics as a science came out of the bowels of philology, which in ancient times was a single undifferentiated science, including literary criticism, textual criticism, poetics, cultural theory and linguistics (grammar). Philology is now understood as complex science uniting literary criticism and linguistics. Linguistics is connected with literary criticism (literary theory, literary history, literary criticism). Philology is a science that studies the culture of the people, expressed in language and literary creativity. At the junction of linguistics and literary criticism is poetics - a section of literary theory that deals with the construction of literary texts, studying sound, syntactic, stylistic organization poetic speech, a system of aesthetic means. It should be noted that there are significant differences between the literary and linguistic approaches to the study of a literary text. A literary critic studies language as a component of artistic form and in connection with ideological content. A linguist studies a literary text as a manifestation of the author's speech activity, as a fact of the language norm and functional style.
Linguistics is also associated with hermeneutics. Hermeneutics and linguistics are occupied with the construction and interpretation of texts, decoding and reading of ancient texts. Hermeneutics is a science that studies the processes of text understanding. Everywhere man deals with texts. Text production and text comprehension occupy an important place in human activity. Understanding texts plays a big role in social life, individual destiny, organization of learning. Understanding regulates the development of reality through the text. And this is embodied in decision-making, the formation of views, assessments, self-assessments, in communication of all types. The purpose of philological hermeneutics is to help people communicate in a variety of situations, to overcome the misunderstanding of man by man.
Linguistics has the same ancient connections with philosophy. AT Ancient Greece Linguistics originated in the depths of philosophy, which followed from the worldview of ancient thinkers who considered the cosmos, nature and man as a whole. Both of these sciences are interested in such problems as “language and consciousness”, “language and thinking”, “language and society”, “language and culture”, “correlation of concept and meaning in a word”, etc. Philosophy as the science of the most general laws of development of nature, society, man, consciousness gives linguistics general methodological principles approach to language as a phenomenon. The dominant philosophical ideas and trends of a particular era have always influenced the theoretical concepts of the language.

From the early stages of the existence of linguistics, its connection with logic. Already Aristotle (384-322 BC) formulated the features of a logical approach to language. Logic and linguistics consider the problems of the connection between language and thinking, the correlation of logical forms of thinking and their expression in linguistic categories.
Linguistics is associated with history. History is the science of the development of human society, of the processes associated with changes in the social structures of society. The history of a language is part of the history of a people. The connection of linguistics with history is two-way: the data of history provide a concrete historical consideration of the phenomena of language, and the data of linguistics are one of the sources in the study historical issues ethnogenesis, the development of the culture of the people, contacts with other peoples, etc. Chronicles and other written monuments give us an idea of historical events, features of life different peoples. The study of the language of written monuments makes it possible to judge the relationship of different languages and, consequently, the common destinies of various peoples, the territory of their settlement, migration in time and space. Accounting for external historical factors clarifies the formation of certain languages, the fate of individual words and expressions. Thus, mass borrowings of words are noted, as a rule, during the period of active contacts between peoples, reflecting the influence of the people whose language serves as a source of borrowings. For example, in the Petrine era, which was characterized by broad economic, trade and cultural ties with Western Europe, the Russian language has been significantly influenced by Western European languages.
Linguistics is associated with archeology, ethnography, anthropology. Archeology studies history using material sources found during excavations, monuments of material culture - tools, weapons, jewelry, utensils, etc. Linguistics, together with archeology, studies extinct languages and determines the migration of their speakers. Ethnography studies the life and culture of the people. Ethnographers classify and interpret the data of archaeological excavations according to the types of material culture, which is important for linguists to identify areas of distribution of certain languages. Linguistics is most closely associated with ethnography in the study of the dialect dictionary - the names of peasant buildings, utensils, clothing, agricultural items and tools, crafts. The connection of linguistics with ethnography is manifested not only in the study of material culture, but also in the study of the reflection in the language of national identity. Among the general problems of linguistics and ethnography, the problem of the functioning of language in societies of various types should be noted.
At the intersection of linguistics and anthropology arose ethnolinguistics, which explores the language in its relation to the culture of the people.
Thanks to archaeological excavations, many written monuments have been discovered: tablets with Assyrian texts, stone slabs with hieroglyphic and cuneiform signs, birch bark letters of ancient Novgorod, Torzhok, etc. of the largest birch bark documents, the length of which is 55.5 cm, the width is 9 cm. It was not a document or a business record, but a literary text, an extract from literary work. The Novotorzhskaya charter is a rare case of a written literary text that has come down to us from the depths of centuries. This is a sermon with which the priest addressed his flock [cf. Question. linguistic 2002. No. 2].
At the junction of linguistics with the disciplines of the historical cycle, paleography, which studies the creation of signs of writing and their development.
Linguistics (together with anthropology) attempts to answer the question of the origin of man and language and the early stages of their development. Anthropology is the science of the origin of man and his races, of the variability of man over time. The interests of linguists and anthropologists converge in the classification of races and languages.
With sociology linguistics is united by such problems as the social nature of the language, its social functions, the mechanisms of the influence of social factors on the language, the role of language in the life of society, etc. At the junction of linguistics and sociology, sociolinguistics devoted to the development of questions of the relationship between language and society, social structures. In sociolinguistics questions of a language situation, language policy are considered.
Linguistics is associated with psychology. Psychology and linguistics deal with the problems of speech production and speech perception (coding and decoding of speech signals by the brain system), speech organization of a person. What psychological work of consciousness is behind each step of the development of speech and what are these steps - this is one of the main questions. psycholinguistics. The inner spiritual and mental world of a person is most clearly manifested with the help of language. Reflection of spiritual, mental, emotional and mental activity by language forms is studied by psycholinguistics.
At the beginning of the twentieth century. arose linguosemiotics, the appearance of which is associated with the name of the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure (1857-1913). Semiotics is the science of signs, any sign systems - telegraph codes, flag signaling, road signs, signs, etc. Language is the main, most complex sign system, therefore semiotics studies language along with other sign systems.
Linguistics is connected not only with social, but also with natural sciences: physics, biology, physiology, mathematics, cybernetics, informatics, medicine and etc.
Of the natural sciences, linguistics comes into contact mainly with human physiology. Physiology and neurophysiology study the structure of the speech apparatus, the formation of speech sounds, the perception of the speech flow by the organs of hearing, and the reflex physiological basis of the language. Particularly important for linguistics is the reflex theory of speech activity of Russian physiologists I.M. Sechenov and I.P. Pavlov. The words that a person hears and sees represent the second signal system - a specifically human form of reflection of reality. The second signal system is signal signals.
There is a close connection between linguistics and neurology- the science of the higher nervous activity of man. The junction of these two sciences formed a new discipline - neurolinguistics, which studies the linguistic behavior of a person not only in the norm, but also in pathology. The study of speech disorders (aphasias) gives linguists a lot not only for understanding speech, but also for studying the structure of the language and its functioning.
The connection of linguistics with biology undoubted, since both of these sciences give an answer to the question of the evolution of man and language, and allow us to reconstruct the most ancient states. The methods for reconstructing the Proto-Indo-European language and determining the time of its decay turned out to be similar to similar procedures in the molecular theory of evolution. Scientists have found a structural similarity genetic code and natural language code.
Linguistics is associated with medicine, which is interested in the zones and functions of the central nervous system. They can be studied on the basis of linguistic data.
With psychiatry linguistics is concerned with the study of the unconscious speech errors, pathopsychological speech disorders associated with mental retardation, or speech abnormalities associated with impaired sensory systems (in deaf and deaf-mutes).
Enough strong ties exist in linguistics since geography. Often geographic factors serve as a prerequisite for linguistic facts: the peculiarities of the mountain landscape in the Caucasus or the Pamirs predetermine the existence of a small number of native speakers; wide open territories contribute, as a rule, to the separation of dialects, and limited ones to their convergence; seas and oceans served in antiquity as an obstacle to broad language contacts. At the intersection of linguistics and geography arose linguogeography, studying the territorial distribution of languages and dialects, as well as individual linguistic phenomena.
Toponymy is also of a linguo-geographical nature - a section of lexicology that studies various geographical names(mountains, seas, oceans, lakes, rivers, settlements etc.). The study of such names often provides reliable historical information about the settlement of tribes, the migration of peoples, and the peculiarities of the way of life of people in different eras.
Linguistics is associated with physical, mathematical and technical sciences. The connection of linguistics with physics, primarily with acoustics, led to the creation of experimental phonetics. At the end of the twentieth century. a close union of linguistics with theoretical physics was formed, with those sections of it that are engaged in the creation of unified theories of the universe.
At the intersection of mathematics and linguistics arose mathematical linguistics, which develops a formal apparatus for describing natural languages. Mathematical linguistics uses statistics, probability theory, set theory, algebra, mathematical logic in the study of language. Mathematics allows you to develop a statistical theory of language, conduct quantitative studies of various linguistic phenomena, classify them, create frequency dictionaries, study the formal compatibility of language units, calculate the statistical characteristics of speech using methods mathematical theory information, to model the processes of generation and perception of speech, etc.
Among the mathematical disciplines in contact with linguistics is information theory, or Informatics, studying the language as one of the means of storing, processing and transmitting information. Informatics in alliance with linguistics ensures the creation and operation of information retrieval systems and automated control systems.
Closely related is modern linguistics and cybernetics– the science of management and the place of information in management processes. Cybernetics tries to understand language as a natural and powerful self-regulating information system that participates in control processes in almost all areas of human life. The contacts of linguistics with cybernetics led to the formation engineering linguistics, which deals with the study of the language in its relation to computers, to the possibilities of machine word processing, to the possibilities of creating analyzers and synthesizers human voice.
Modern linguistics is a branched, multifaceted science that has broad connections with almost all areas of modern knowledge. The connection of linguistics with other sciences does not deny its independence as a special science.
The main trend of scientific progress in modern world– the interpenetration of sciences, the rapid development of new scientific disciplines that arise at the junctions of traditional areas of research. A trend has arisen synthesizing sciences, which resulted in butt sciences, such as: physical chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, etc.
As a result of the interaction of linguistics with other sciences, complex (butt) sciences arise, such as sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, mathematical linguistics, ethnolinguistics, etc. Complex scientific disciplines that arise at the junction of two or more sciences testify to the process of synthesis scientific knowledge.
On the other hand, there is a process differentiation scientific areas. From the object of linguistics as a holistic discipline, such areas are distinguished that fall into the sphere of psycholinguistics or sociolinguistics as independent sciences. Many modern discoveries made by linguists working at the intersection of sciences.
The successes of cybernetics, informatics, mathematical linguistics, and engineering linguistics have given rise to new linguistic problems, have given linguists the opportunity to explore the language with new methods that complement and improve the old ones. Machine translation, the use of computers, machine information retrieval, automatic text processing, etc. required a revision or a new look at some linguistic concepts.
A.A. Reformatsky noted that linguistics should be true to its subject and its ontology, although it can enter into any relationship with related sciences.
Linguistics has a leading place in the system of human sciences - Human Science.

4. General and private linguistics

Linguistics has two objects - language and languages. Linguistics is the science of language and languages. Human language is a unique phenomenon of reality. It actually exists in many separate, specific languages. Today, science knows about 5 thousand languages (According to some sources, the number of languages and dialects on Earth is about 30 thousand. The number of peoples on Earth is about 1 thousand). 180 languages are native to 3.5 billion inhabitants of the Earth. The remaining languages are used by a smaller part of the earth's population. Among these languages there are languages spoken by several hundred or even tens of people. But for linguistics, all languages are equal and all are important, since each of them is a unique creation of people.
Language as a human ability, as a universal and immutable characteristic of a person, is not the same as separate, constantly changing languages in which this ability is realized. Human language is actually given to us in experience in many separate concrete languages.
Each of the individual languages is somewhat different from the others, being a unique, individual phenomenon. But at the same time, it has a lot common features with other languages, and in the most essential - with all the languages of the world that people speak at the present time and which have already ceased to exist, leaving a memory of themselves in written texts.
The general and essential in various languages, as well as the particular and the separate in specific languages, serve as the basis for distinguishing general and particular linguistics within linguistics. General linguistics considers the properties of human language in general, language as an invariant , which actually exists in the form of specific ethnic languages.
General linguistics (general linguistics) is a science that studies natural human language, its origin, properties, functioning and development. The subject of general linguistics is such complex issues as the essence of language, the relationship between language and thinking, language and objective reality, language and culture, types of languages, classification of languages, historical development of languages, etc. General linguistics should explain based on existing knowledge and checking newly put forward hypotheses, the nature and essence of human language in general, i.e. answer questions about the place of language in a number of phenomena of the world, about its relation to a person and his life, to thinking, cognition, consciousness, to the reality surrounding a person, to his biological and psychological nature. General linguistics also includes the methodology of linguistic research, i.e. a system of research principles, methods, procedures and techniques.
Private linguistics has as its subject a particular language or group of languages. It explores each individual language as a special, unique phenomenon. Those sections of linguistics that are devoted to individual languages get their name from their language, for example, Russian studies, English studies, Polonian studies, Lithuanian studies, etc. When studying a group of related languages, the name of a section of linguistics is given by the name of the group, for example, German studies, Roman studies, etc. Private linguistics can study families of languages, and then it gets a name for the family of languages being studied, for example, Indo-European studies.
Private linguistics is called upon to record, inventory and describe in detail the whole multitude of languages that exist or have existed on Earth. Private linguistics is by its nature descriptive, empirical, it is interested in how a given language works, how it functions, how it developed.
Solving the problems of particular linguistics can be effective if it is based on general linguistics, which offers its own conceptual apparatus. In relation to particular linguistics, general linguistics acts as a theoretical, explanatory discipline. It is a theory, the objects of which are universal, common to all human languages, the laws of their structure, functioning, development. These laws are obligatory for all languages, but they are implemented in each of the specific languages in their own way.
On the other hand, the general patterns of the structure and development of a language can be known only by examining individual living or dead languages.
Two sections of linguistics - general and particular linguistics complement each other. General linguistics contributes to a better understanding of the specifics of specific languages; it plays the role of a theoretical foundation for private linguistics describing specific languages. Private linguistics uses concepts, ideas, provisions of general linguistics, applying them to a specific language.

- phonetic

- morphological

- lexical

Sciences are:

Philosophy

Natural

Correlation between linguistics and philology

Philology is a set of disciplines that studies the spiritual culture of a person through texts.

Linguistics only partially fits into the circle of philological problems, because it studies the units of the language less than the text.

Sciences related to linguistics:

Philosophy (as correlative consciousness, language and reality)

Story

Sociology

Ethnography

Geography

Psychology

Mathematics (statistics)

Informatics

Anatomy, physiology (phonetics)

literary criticism

The main sections of linguistics:

A) Private (studies individual languages or groups and families of related languages: sections - Russian Studies, English Studies, Romance Studies, Fin-Ugric Studies, Turkology, Sinology (Sinology))

B) General (studies problems that are related to all languages of the world; establishing and studying a language unit; studying the structure of the language world (levels can be distinguished in all languages of the world); studies the sign nature of a language (any language is a system of signs, a phoneme is not a sign )

Thus, general linguistics studies general principles language device

Problems of general linguistics:

What role does language play in thinking? How does it reflect the world?

Patterns of historical development of languages

Ratio Language and psyche, language and thinking

(Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics do this)

Language universals (phenomena common to all languages of the world)

Classification of world languages

External and internal linguistics

This division of linguistics belongs to Ferdinand de Saussure

Int. Linguistics - studies the internal structure of the language (phonetics, grammar, lexicology)

External Lingua - studies the language in a broad socio-cultural context (language and any other aspects)

Ticket number 1 Linguistics as a science. The main sections of linguistics. General and private linguistics. External and internal linguistics. The place of linguistics in the system of sciences.

Linguistics is the science of language that studies it both in its entirety (as a system) and its individual properties and characteristics: origin and historical past, quality and functional features, as well as the general laws of construction and dynamic development of all languages on Earth.
Linguistics is divided into sections: general and particular

The general is divided into the following. Basic ur. Yaz:

- phonetic

Phonetics is the science of the sound structure of a language, the subject of its study is the sounds of speech.

- morphological

Morphology is that part of the grammatical structure of a language that unites grammatical classes of languages (parts of speech), categories and forms of words belonging to these classes.

- lexical

Lexicology is a branch of linguistics that studies the word and vocabulary of the language as a whole. Lexicology includes the following sections:

A) Onomasiology (the science that studies the process of naming, i.e. naming objects and phenomena of the outside world)

B) Semasiology (a science that studies the meaning of words and phrases)

C) Phraseology (a science that studies stable turns of speech, the nature of phraseological units, their types, features of functioning in speech)

D) Onomastics (a science that studies proper names in the broad sense of the word; place names are studied by toponymy, names and surnames of people - anthroponymy)

E) Etymology (the science that studies the origin of words, the process of forming the vocabulary of a language)

E) Lexicography (a science dealing with the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries)

Syntax (a section of grammar that studies the patterns of building sentences and combinations of words in phrases)

The place of linguistics in the system of sciences. The main sections of linguistics.

Sciences are:

Humanities (linguistics, linguistics)

Philosophy

Natural

The German scientist August Schleicher argued in the 19th century that linguistics should be transferred from the humanities to the natural sciences.

Linguistics (or linguistics) is a science that studies languages, a science about natural human language in general and about all the languages of the world as its individual representatives.

It belongs to the social sciences.

Language is an abstract system, expression. in speech

There are (according to various sources) 3-5 thousand languages in the world. Language is the most important means of human communication; there is not and cannot be a human society and people that would not have a language.

Linguistics is connected with different sciences:

social:

Since language is a social phenomenon, the science of language is associated with a number of social sciences, primarily with sociology. The doctrine of the structure of society, its functioning, evolution and development can give linguistics a lot in connection with how a particular language is used by various social associations. (professional groups, classes, representatives of various social strata), how is the division and unification of social communities reflected in the language, the resettlement of tribes and peoples (migration) or the formation of territorial social groups within the same language (dialects) or between different languages(language unions).
with history because the history of the language is part of the history of the people. History data provide a concrete historical consideration of language changes, linguistic data are one of the sources in the study of such historical problems as the origin of the people, the development of the culture of the people and their society at different stages of history, contacts between peoples.
Linguistics with archeology, which studies history from material sources - tools, weapons, jewelry, utensils, etc.
Linguistics is closely related to ethnography when studying the dialect dictionary - the names of peasant buildings, utensils and clothing, agricultural items and tools, crafts.

The connection of linguistics with ethnography is also manifested in the classification of languages and peoples, in the study of the reflection in the language of national consciousness. This line of research is called ethnolinguistics. Language in this case is considered as an expression of people's ideas about the world.

Linguistics is closely related to literary criticism. The Union of Linguistics and Literary Studies gave rise to philology. (I love the word) Poetics is at the junction of linguistics and Litved
Linguistics is also associated with psychology. The psychological direction in linguistics studies mental and other psychological processes and their reflection in speech, in the categories of language. In the middle of the 20th century arose psycholinguistics.

Natural Sciences:

most closely associated with physiology. Particularly important for linguistics is Pavlov's theory of the first and second signal systems. Impressions, sensations, and ideas from the external environment as a general natural one are "the first signal system of reality that we have in common with animals." The second signaling system is associated with abstract thinking, education general concepts. "The word constituted the second, especially our, signal system of reality, being the signal of the first signals."
anthropology. Anthropology is the science of the origin of man and human races, about the variability of the human structure in time and space. The interests of linguists and anthropologists coincide in two cases: firstly, in classifying races, and secondly, in studying the question of the origin of speech.
On the connection of linguistics with philosophy. Philosophy equips the language. as well as other sciences, methodology, contributes to the development of principles and methods of analysis.

Linguistics is divided into general, particular and applied.

Private linguistics engaged in the study of individual languages. studies the properties inherent

1. individual languages (for example, Russian studies, Polish studies, English studies);

2. groups of related languages (eg Slavic studies, Turkic studies, German studies, Roman studies);

3. certain geographical areas (areas), where there are a number of different and often common in type, but not necessarily related languages (Caucasian studies, Balkan studies).

It may be descriptive (exploring the facts of the language at some period of its history) and historical ( studying the development of a language over a period of time).

General linguistics- explores the essence and nature of the language, the problem of its origin and the general laws of its development, its functioning, and also develops methods for analyzing languages. Its task is to define the concepts used by linguistics. It brings out features that are common to languages and establishes a theory that applies to all (or most) languages.

General linguistics includes comparative historical, which studies the historical past of related and unrelated languages, in order to identify the general patterns of the language. Within the framework of general linguistics, typological linguistics, whose task is to compare unrelated languages. Typological linguistics conducts comparisons of both related and unrelated languages in order to identify common language patterns. For example, the identification of language universals (static universals for the vast majority of languages and absolute universals for all languages of the world). Absolute universals, for example: in all languages there is a division into vowels and consonants, and in all languages there are proper names etc.

Applied Linguistics– specializes in solving practical problems related to language learning, as well as in the practical use of linguistic theory in other areas; application of linguistic knowledge in practice. (for example, teaching linguistics).

Translation from one language to another

Terminology development

Improvement of the alphabet

Language learning approaches:

Diachronic (involves the study of the facts of the language in their development.)

Synchronic (research involves the study of the facts of the language relating to the same time.)

Language sections:

Language as a system consists of language units, which are grouped into levels.

The structure of each level, the relationship of units among themselves are the subject of study of sections of linguistics:

Phonetics

Morphology

Syntax

Lexicology

Phonetics- a branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of speech and the sound structure of the language (syllables, sound combinations, patterns of connecting sounds in a speech chain).

Morphology- one of the sections of grammar that studies the morphemic composition of the language, types of morphemes, the nature of their interaction and functioning.

Syntax- a section of grammar that studies the patterns of constructing sentences and combining words in a phrase. Syntax includes two main parts: the doctrine of the phrase and the doctrine of the sentence.

Morphology + syntax (+ derivation) = grammar. (two relatively independent sections are combined into a more general linguistic science) Grammar- a section of linguistics containing the doctrine of the forms of inflection, the structure of words, types of phrases and types of sentences.

Lexicology- studies the word and vocabulary of the language as a whole.

Onomasiology is a science that studies the process of naming

Semasiology - the meanings of words and phrases

Phraseology - studies the stable turns of speech of the language

Onomastics - studies proper names in the broad sense of the word (geographical names, names and surnames)

Lexicography - compiling dictionaries

Synonymy - identity and proximity of meanings

Antonymy - the opposite of the meanings of language units

Phraseology is the science of linguistic units that are complex in composition, having a stable character - phraseological units

Aspects of:

External - why do we need a language, language functions (sociolinguistics (from dialects))

Internal - language device, structure

Practical -

Comparative (closely related) and comparative (different languages) language. comporativistics.

The complexity of the language device.
It is a system of systems.
1) literary language(dictionaries)
2) vernacular
3) territorial dialects
4) social dialects (slang, professional)

In conclusion, we would like to outline the range of tasks that linguistics should solve:

1. Establish the nature and essence of language.

2. Consider the structure of the language.

3. To understand language as a system, that is, language is not disparate facts, not a set of words, it is an integral system, all members of which are interconnected and interdependent.

4. To study the development of the language in connection with the development of society;

How and when did both arise;

5. To study the issue of the origin and development of writing;

6. Classify languages, that is, combine them according to the principle of their similarity

7. Consider the relationship of linguistics with other sciences (history, psychology, logic, literary criticism, mathematics).

Linguistics is the science of language, its origin, properties and functions, as well as the general laws of the structure and development of all languages of the world. “Language in itself and for itself is the most important and most useful subject of research,” wrote the largest German philosopher, philologist, one of the most profound and original thinkers of the 19th century. Wilhelm von Humboldt. “Language is not just an external means of communication between people ... but is embedded in the very nature of man and is necessary for the development of his spiritual powers and the formation of a worldview.”

There are from 2.5 to 6 thousand languages in the world, although according to data for 1983 there are about 1 thousand peoples. At the same time, the spread of languages across the globe very unevenly: in the vast territory of China, for example, they speak mainly Mandarin, and Fr. New Guinea and the small islands adjacent to it speak 1,000 different languages. With all the huge differences between the languages, they have a lot in common. Such features that unite all the languages of the world include, for example, the following:

1) each language is the property of a separate collective (people, nation), in connection with which any language (even the most raw) performs different functions in the life of this collective, among which two are the most important - to be a means of human communication and to be a means of knowing the world around;
2) each language consists of sounds pronounced by a person, with the help of which words are formed and thoughts are expressed, therefore any language has at least two correlative classes of formations - a word and a sentence;
3) any statement in a particular language is divided into elements that are repeated in other statements;
4) each language has a set of such repeating elements and rules for their combination into statements.

The subject of linguistics is such complex issues as the essence of language, its origin and main functions, the relationship between language and thinking, language and objective reality, types of languages, organization of their linguistic structure, functioning and historical development, classification of languages, etc.

Within linguistics, it is conditionally possible to distinguish between general and particular linguistics. The subject of study of general linguistics is the general laws of organization, development and functioning of languages. Within the framework of general linguistics, there is typological linguistics, which studies languages in a comparative aspect in order to identify the general patterns of their development and functioning. Typological linguistics establishes linguistic universals, i.e. provisions that are valid for all languages of the world (the so-called absolute universals) or for their significant majority (the so-called statistical universals).

To absolute universals include, for example, the following:

1) in all languages of the world there are vowels and stop consonants (although their ratio may be different); 2) in each language, the speech stream is divided into syllables, among which the structure “consonant + vowel” is sure to be found; 3) in all languages of the world there are proper names and pronouns; 4) in the grammatical system of any language, a name and a verb are distinguished; 5) in every language there are words that convey emotions or commands of a person; 6) if a language has a category of case or gender, then it also has a category of number; 7) if the language has a gender opposition for nouns, then it also exists for pronouns; 8) if in the language the definition comes before the name (as in the phrase new house), then the numeral will also come before the name ( one house, first house); 9) people speak in sentences in all languages of the world, while all languages distinguish between interrogative and affirmative sentences; 10) in all languages of the world in a sentence, as a rule, there is a subject of action and its object, an object and its attribute, certain temporal and spatial relations, etc.

From the number statistical universals we can cite, for example, the following: 1) in most languages of the world there are at least two distinct vowels (the only exception is the Aranta language in Australia, which has only one vowel); 2) in most languages of the world, the system of pronouns has at least two numbers (an exception is one of the Austronesian languages - Javanese, in which singular and plural do not differ in pronouns).

Private linguistics is directed to the study of individual languages (for example, Russian, English, Chinese, etc.) or a group of related languages (for example, Slavic, Romance, etc.). Particular linguistics can be descriptive (synchronous syn ‘together’ and chronos‘time’, i.e. referring to the same time), describing the facts of the language at some point in its history (and not only modern, but also taken in some other time period) or historical (diachroic (On ‘through, through’ and chronos‘time’, i.e. related to movement in time) tracing the development of a language over a longer or shorter period of time (for example, Old Russian language during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries). Diachronic linguistics also includes comparative historical linguistics, which is directed to the study of the historical past of languages.

Linguistics as a science includes many disciplines, including:

1) disciplines related to the study internal organization language, the device of its levels (for example, phonetics, lexicology, grammar);
2) disciplines related to the study of the historical development of the language, with the formation of its levels (for example, historical phonetics, historical grammar, historical lexicology);
3) disciplines that describe the functioning of the language in society (sociolinguistics, dialectology, linguogeography), studying a wide range of problems that reflect the social nature of the language, its social functions, role in society, etc.;
4) disciplines dealing with complex problems that arise at the intersection of sciences (psycholinguistics, mathematical and engineering linguistics, ethnolinguistics);
5) applied linguistic disciplines ( experimental phonetics, lexicography, paleography, decoding of unknown script, etc.).

Linguistics studies phenomena belonging to different linguistic levels. Levels languages are the tiers of a common language system. Usually, the following language levels are distinguished: phonemic (or phonological), morphemic (or morphological), syntactic and lexical (or lexico-semantic).

phonemic the level of the language is represented by the following linguistic sciences:

phonetics- the science of the sound level of language. The subject of its study is the sounds of speech in all their diversity, the description of their articulatory and acoustic characteristics and the rules of use in the language;

phonology- a section of linguistics that studies the sound side of the language, but from a functional and systemic point of view. The subject of study is the phoneme, its phonological features and functions;

morphonology- a branch of linguistics that studies the phoneme as an element in the construction of a morpheme. The subject of morphonology is the phonemic structure of morphemes, the behavior of phonemes in identical morphemes (their variation, compatibility rules at the junctions of morphemes, and other issues).

Phonetics, phonology, morphonology, which describe the sound side of the language, are opposed by semantically oriented sections of linguistics that study meaning as single word, and a whole class of words united by a common grammatical or derivational meaning.

With lexical the following sciences are related to the level of language:

lexicology- a branch of linguistics that studies the vocabulary of the language and the word as its main unit, the structure of the lexical composition of the language, ways of its replenishment and development, the nature of systemic relations within or between groups of vocabulary;

semasiology, exploring lexical semantics, the correlation of a word with the concept it expresses and the designated object of reality;

onomasiology, studying issues related to the technique of naming in the language, with the lexical division of the world in the course of human cognition. Morphological the level of the language is described by the following sciences: morphology, studying the structure of the word, its morphemic composition and forms of inflection (classification of systems of forms of inflection), parts of speech and the principles of their selection;

word formation, describing the structure of the word, the means and methods of its formation, the conditions for the appearance and functioning in the language.

Syntactic language level represents syntax- a section of linguistics that describes the processes of speech generation: ways of combining words (and forms of words) into phrases and sentences, types syntactic links words and sentences, i.e. those mechanisms of language that contribute to the formation of speech.

Humboldt von V. Selected Works on Linguistics. M., 1984. S. 51.
This disproportion between the number of languages and the number of peoples speaking them is gradually increasing, in addition, the discrepancy between the total number of languages is caused by the difficulty of distinguishing between language and dialect, especially when it comes to unwritten languages. The total number of languages and dialects on Earth reaches 30 thousand.