Linguistics is the scientific study of language, how it works, how it is structured, how it changes over time, and how it is used in everyday life. It involves analysing language form, language meaning, and language in context, drawing on methods from the humanities, social sciences, and cognitive sciences.
Linguists observe and describe language as it is actually used, ask questions about how language functions, and formulate hypotheses about different aspects of language, such as:
Linguistics is also concerned with language acquisition, historical language change, language variation, and the relationship between language and thought. The field has practical applications in many areas, including:
Our colleagues at the Linguistics Society of America have an excellent page that explores what linguists do, how to become one, and how linguistic insights relate to your everyday experiences: https://www.linguisticsociety.org/what-linguistics
