linguistics
UK: lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks | US: lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks
n. the scientific study of language and its structure, including grammar, syntax, phonetics, and semantics.
linguistics = lingu<language> + istics<study of>
- lingu (from Latin lingua, meaning "tongue" or "language")
- istics (a suffix derived from Greek -istikos, indicating a field of study or science)
Etymology Origin:
The word linguistics traces back to Latin lingua ("tongue/language") and the Greek-derived suffix -istics ("pertaining to a discipline"). The fusion reflects the field's focus on systematic language analysis, blending Latin's tangible root (lingua as speech) with Greek's abstract scholarly tradition (-istics as scientific study). Over time, linguistics evolved to denote the academic study of language structure and use.
She majored in linguistics to explore how languages evolve.
Modern linguistics covers both spoken and signed languages.
His research in computational linguistics bridges AI and human communication.
Phonetics is a core subfield of linguistics.
The professor’s work revolutionized theoretical linguistics.