Introduction

In approaching the study of human language in general, if the aim is to categorize, classify, and identify how languages work, then these functions must be based on clearly documented empirical observations. This kind of activity separates linguistics from anecdotal, philosophical, impressionistic, or speculative observations about language that may come from anyone anywhere. Linguistics can be defined as follows.

1. Linguistics is “the study of language as a system of human communication” (Richards and Schmidt 2010: 343).

2. Linguistics is “a natural science, on a par with geology, biology, physics, and chemistry.” And “the task of linguistics is to explain the nature of human language, through active involvement in the description of language – each viewed as an integrated system – together with explanation of why each language is the way it is, allied to the further scientific pursuits of prediction and evaluation” (Dixon 2010a: 1).

3. “For the beginning linguist, saying that linguistics is a science can be interpreted as implying careful observation of the relevant real-world phenomena, classification of those phenomena, and the search for useful patterns in the phenomena observed and classified. For the more advanced linguist, saying that linguistics is a science is a matter of seeking explanations for the phenomena of language and building theories which will help explain why observed phenomena occur while phenomena which are not observed should not occur” (Bauer 2007: 17).

4. “Linguists believe that their field is a science because they share the goals of scientific inquiry, which is objective (or more properly intersubjectively accessible) understanding” (Aronoff and Rees-Miller 2001: xiv).

5. “The task of linguistics is to explain the nature of human language, through active involvement in the description of languages – each viewed as an integrated system – together with an explanation of why each language is the way it is, allied to the further scientific pursuits of prediction and evaluation” (Dixon 2010a: 1).