Linguistics and its Branches
...the educator

Linguistic has been a common term in the academic society particularly with those whose concern is to develop communication skills and equip themselvec with the rudimentary facilties of effective communications whether written, verbal or by symbols. Mostly, an academician who looks for a bright future simply believes that competency with a language is the key. 

What is Linguistics?

Linguistic in its simplest definition is the science of language. It is the elemental step or approach in understanding a particular language.

What are the its branches?

a.  Psycho - linguistics is the study of how verbal content of a message is processed, and what is needed for effective communication. This branch of linguistics greatly affects the semantic set of a communicative string. It entails the mental and physical activities of the human body to produced a set of meaningful communicative strings. Thus, sometimes, statements or words despite its simplex form conveys variety of interpretations or meanings.

b. Descriptive linguistics is the study of a language structural compositions, i.e, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics without value judgment. Further discussions on the descriptive elements of a language will be in a separate article.

c. Socio - linguistics is the study of language in relation to the people who use it. It covers the notion of dialect, the balance between individuality and conformity in language usage, the significance of of pidgins and creoles and the attitudes evoked by language and dialects.

d. Pragmatic linguistics is the field of linguistics that studies the practicability of use of a particular communicative string in a particular given setting.

Understanding the fucntions of these branches of linguistics does not require a deep academic discussions. Primarily, the very reason why often times we don't understant each other is simply because we lack the  knowledge of linguistics.