语言学家研究人类语言的基本原理。他们有兴趣了解孩子入学前如何在没有太多指导的情况下学习母语，以及人们如何说话和理解以前从未听过的句子。语言学家还研究语言随时间的变化。一些语言学家研究大脑不同位置的损伤如何引起不同类型的语言问题。对人类语言的形式模式的描述具有许多应用。在研究语言使用与文化，地区，阶级和性别之间的关系时，语言学与人类学和其他社会科学联系在一起。在研究儿童如何学习语言，说话者如何处理和解释语言以及伤害和疾病如何影响语言产生和感知方面，它与心理学，语言和听力相关。语言学家和计算机科学家正在发现识
Linguists study the underlying principles of human languages. They are interested in understanding how children learn their native language without much instruction before they enter school and how people speak and understand sentences they have never heard before. Linguists also study language change through time. Some linguists study how damage at different locations in the brain causes different types of linguistic problems.<br><br>Rather than attempting to learn many languages, linguists search for the organizational principles of the world's languages.<br><br>The description of formal patterns of human language has a number of applications. Linguistics is linked with anthropology and other social sciences in studying how language use relates to culture, region, class, and gender. It is connected to psychology, speech, and hearing in studying how children learn language, how speakers process and interpret language, and how injuries and disorders affect both production and perception of speech.