Wikipedia:Linguistics basic topics

These should be the most basic topics in the field--topics about which we'd like to have articles soon. Please see the most basic encyclopedia article topics for general instructions on constructing this list, and consult complete list of encyclopedia topics.

Table of contents 1 Basic questions 2 Basic concepts (glossary of basic terms) 3 Timeline of discovery of basic concepts 4 People 5 Subfields

Basic questions

What are the basic questions asked in linguistics?

1. What is language?
2. How did it/does it evolve?

(The answers are not necessarily basic or easy to understand.)

Basic concepts (glossary of basic terms)

What basic concepts / terms do I have to know to talk about linguistics?

• Morpheme
• Phoneme
• Grammar
• Syntax
• Semantics

Timeline of discovery of basic concepts

When were the basic concepts first described and by whom?

• Influence of ancient Sanscrit grammarians?

People

People who had a significant influence on the development of the field

• Panini
• Ferdinand de Saussure
• Noam Chomsky
• Sir William Jones

Subfields

• Phonetics
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Grammar
• Pragmatics
• Semantics
• Lexicology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Comparative linguistics[?]