Linguistics

The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms - Ross Murfin 2018

Linguistics

Linguistics: The application of scientific principles to the study of language. Linguistics has several divisions, which include etymology (the derivation of words), semantics (the meaning of words), syntax (the arrangement of words), morphology (the study of the form of words and their smallest meaningful parts, called morphemes), and phonology (the study of basic sounds, called phonemes).