Traditional Grammar and Modern Linguistics

2. Modern Linguistics

Linguistics or modern linguistics refers to the scientific study of language and its structure. This includes the study of features such as grammar, syntax, and phonetics. Moreover, modern linguistics regards language as a system and grammar is only considered as a systematic description of a certain language, either oral or written.

               Figure 02: Major Levels of Linguistic Structure

Most importantly, modern linguistics is descriptive, i.e., it doesn’t prescribe how one should use language; instead, it describes how natural language functions. Moreover, it considers oral language as the basic form of language. Linguists also consider language change as a natural process; in linguistics, a language that doesn’t change is a dead language.