Unit 5. English in New Zealand  156

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Part 1 
INTRODUCTION 
UNIT 1. THEORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS 
Theory of the language comprises all major branches and methods of modern 
linguistics. 
Interest in language studies has existed since ancient times. For hundreds of 
years people tried to find answers to such questions as: What is language? How did 
the human language appear? Why do languages change? Why do languages die? Is 
language unique to the human species only? How do children acquire the knowledge 
of a language?
These and many more other questions and considerations encouraged not only 
linguists, but also psychologists, philosophers, neurologists, computer scientists, 
educators, sociologists, logicians and others to seek answers and study the language 
using different viewpoints and approaches. Hence there exist different branches 
within linguistics concerned with specific aspects of language studies. 
So what is language? There is no common answer to this question, that is why 
there exist so many definitions of the term „language‟. The most general one is that 
language is a means of communication. Yet, this definition does not satisfy a lot of 
linguists who find it too simple, vague and incomplete. One of the comprehensive 
definitions of the term „language‟ is given by Webster‟s New World Dictionary:
“language 
< L [
lingua
„tongue‟] 1. human speech or the written symbols for 
speech; 2. a) any means of communicating; b) a special set of symbols used in a 
computer; 3. the speech of a particular nation; 4. the particular style of verbal 
expression characteristic of a person, group, profession, etc.”

The given definition proves that the word „language‟ can be understood 
differently depending on the context, approach and goals, therefore it is natural that 
there are so many arguments about this issue. 
Most languages have their standard forms of pronunciation, grammar and 
writing. Yet, linguistics is not concerned much in keeping to standards, prescribing 
rules or norms of the language use. This is in the domain of practical grammarians 
and phoneticians, special language commissions or even governmental bodies. 
Linguists are more interested in describing and explaining language features. They do 
not say what is good or bad about the language use; their objectives are to describe, 
categorize or classify. The main concern of a linguist is to discover elements common 
for all languages, i.e. the universals of the language. Studying these commonalties, 
linguists analyze and place them in a theoretical framework describing all languages 
and determining their differences and distinctive features. To be a linguist does not 
necessarily mean to know many languages or to be an interpreter (though many 
linguists may be qualified to do it as well).
For the most part linguistics is a cognitive science, yet it can also be considered 
a social science that has much in common with psychology, anthropology, social 

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studies, and even archaeology. The influence of linguistics on other sciences is 
beyond doubt (e.g. it is evident in communication studies, computer science, cultural 
anthropology).
Linguistics is a complex discipline having a number of branches and sub-
branches. The major fields of study include phonetics and phonology, etymology, 
semantics, morphology, syntax, and language acquisition. Below there are described 
some of the branches and sub-branches. 

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