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Crash Course in Linguistics

Innocent, well-meaning, new acquaintance: So what do you study?
Me: Linguistics
Them: Oh! How many languages do you speak?
Me: *mentally picturing lasers darting out of my eyes*

This conversation is well-known to virtually everyone who has ever studied the misunderstood topic of linguistics. To be fair, it's not a very popular one, so I don't expect people to know all of its intricacies. But I'd prefer it if people asked questions about it instead of assuming.

To put it another way: asking a linguist how many languages they speak is like asking someone majoring in journalism which newspaper they study, or asking a doctor how many diseases they have. A bit odd, no? My goal is to make the conversation at the beginning of this post just as odd. 

So - what is linguistics???

 In the shortest definition, linguistics is the study of language. Note how that's singular. Linguists can study a particular language or group of languages, but more often than not, they're (we're?) looking for larger patterns. The goal is to try to crack the code behind what separates humans from other animals - our ability to converse.

Like so many other academic subjects, there are lots of subfields. We'll start with the core of theoretical linguistics - the big three as I think of them. Ever heard of a guy named Noam Chomsky? Yeah, this is where he comes in.

Phonology - how sounds work together, what patterns and changes they have, and it's all done with this crazy thing call the International Phonetic Alphabet

Syntax - probably the closest thing to "grammar," figuring out what speech categories we have, and taking diagramming sentences to a whole new level

 Semantics - trying to make a mathematical formula for how our brain combines words to create and understand various meanings (*may include explicit content)

Now, if you've spoken to me for more than 5 minutes about my thoughts/interests in linguistics, you'll quickly come to realize that the above topics aren't exactly my cup of tea. I much prefer a more interdisciplinary approach, and there are plenty of topics in this realm. I can't define all of them, but feel free to check out any that strike your fancy! (for more detailed explanations, check out linguistlist.org)

Anthropological Linguistics 
Applied Linguistics 
Cognitive Science 
Computational Linguistics 
Discourse Analysis 
Forensic Linguistics 
General Linguistics 
Historical Linguistics 
History of Linguistics 
Language Acquisition 
Language Documentation 
Lexicography 
Linguistics and Literature 
Linguistic Theories 
Mathematical Linguistics 
Morphology 
Neurolinguistics 
Philosophy of Language 
Phonetics 
Pragmatics 
Psycholinguistics 
Sociolinguistics 
Text and Corpus Linguistics 
Translating and Interpreting 
Typology 
Writing Systems 

For those of you who are curious, my interests are mostly within the realm of psycholinguistics and language acquisition, meaning I want to know more about how we learn languages - specifically how babies who are growing up in a bilingual world learn two languages. 

If you're interested in knowing a few more specifics about my thesis project or have any questions about linguistics in general, leave a comment or send a message! 
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