Linguistics Essay Topics & Examples

Linguistics Essay Topics & Examples

Updated:
869 samples

What is linguistics? It is a science that concerns structure and changes in human languages. There are several branches of linguistics: phonology and phonetics, morphology and syntax, pragmatics and semantics. Thus, linguists examine the meaning, critical discourse, and lots of other features.

With this diversity within one discipline, it can be pretty tricky to choose a topic for your linguistics essay. Of course, you should write about a specific research question. You can describe historical perspectives or reflect and share your opinion on the issue that you have picked. But where exactly should you start?

That’s why you ended up on this page: you need to figure out how to write an essay about linguistics. Our team has prepared helpful tips so that you can understand the structure and design of such an academic paper. We’ve also collected linguistics essay topics that you can use.

20 Unique Linguistics Essay Topics

As you might have guessed, your linguistics essay should be based on a good idea. The topic should limit the area that you will look at and analyze in your paper. Or it can indicate the intersections between the subdivisions you will study. In this section, we will help you deal with this problem.

You can use the following topics to write your own language and linguistics essay:

  1. Verbal linguistic learning style techniques and their efficiency.
  2. Gender-specific job title in the English language.
  3. English as a global language for tourists and professionals.
  4. The reasons why some languages are easier to learn.
  5. Noam Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar.
  6. Grammar in American and British sign languages.
  7. Passive voice misuse in modern linguistics.
  8. The history of sign language.
  9. The role of semantics in linguistics and language learning.
  10. How translation distorts the initial meaning.
  11. The main linguistic features of the English language.
  12. The typical features of formal English.
  13. Machine learning as a part of applied linguistics.
  14. The benefits of learning foreign languages.
  15. The evolution of linguistics as a science.
  16. Corpus linguistics in teaching languages.
  17. The analysis of Greek history through linguistics.
  18. A case study of modern slang.
  19. Long-term and short-term memory as explored by psycholinguists.
  20. The metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics.

Tips on Writing a Perfect Linguistics Essay

Here, you’ll see our recommendations for composing an essay about linguistics. There are some things you should keep in mind before and while writing your paper:

1. Plan your paper ahead. Decide what your arguments and position are. What should your research involve? Think about the audience of your paper to define your word choice. Search for some credible sources, such as articles about language that support your arguments. Outline your essay, paying close attention to your thesis statement.

2. Remember to be clear. There should be no surprises. State what your conclusion is about in the introduction. The first and the last paragraphs should be connected. Introduce your message as a whole in the thesis statement. Also, always define if you discuss someone else’s viewpoint or your thoughts.

3. Incorporate examples. Explain why you include the supporting evidence before introducing them. Don’t make your readers doubt their relevance. Define if you are citing another author or your own example. In the text, use italics and quotation marks if you need them.

4. Cite and reference. First of all, it is necessary to avoid plagiarism in your work. Secondly, references help to highlight the importance and credibility of your arguments. You can use linguistic articles in English or any other language. Just make sure that you follow the requirements of your institution. There is no exact number of references that you need to use while writing an essay about linguistics. Let’s say that you need more than one or two to make your argument look solid.

5. Work on your wording. Don’t make any firm judgments about your own or other authors’ work in this type of academic writing. Try not to use such words as “obviously” or “absurd.” Incorporate phrases like “clearly” and “without a doubt” carefully. The scientific questions you introduce should appear testable and empirical.

We hope our tips and topics were useful to you. Some good linguistics essay examples can also help you write a perfect paper – you can find them below.

869 Linguistics Essay Examples

Imaginary Homelands Summary & Analysis

The essay Imaginary Homelands describes the plight of the writers in the Diaspora as they attempt to reconnect with their homelands.
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2255

English Language Skills Improvement

To improve my English language skills, I will need to watch movies and read books in English and allot enough time for writing and speaking practice.
  • 4
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 591

“The Nobel Lecture in Literature” by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison's attitude towards the statist language as the dead one presents her vision of higher politics and expresses an idea that language is degraded because of political censorship.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 553

The Experience of Learning English

The English taught in my school is much different than the English used day to day in the English speaking world.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1181

Nature of Translation and Its Process

Translation expresses that human beings have the ability to understand the facts and significance of the mind of the people in general; especially a distinctive group of people with some shared interest, and the culture [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1351

Types of Borrowing in Linguistics Essay

The result of the process of conventionalization is the total loss of connections with the source language according to the perception of the community of the word borrowers.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1397

How to Write a Speech?

The main objectives of a writer when writing a speech is to engage the attention of the audience, use a language that is easy to understand, and present ideas in a way that makes them [...]
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1391

The differences between American and British English

On the other hand, the English language being spoken by the people living in the British Commonwealth countries is what is referred to us as British English. One point in which the British and American [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Importance of Phonology

One of the benefits of studying phonetics is that it shows the difference between languages through the different sounds that the languages in question have.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1329

Multilingualism

This is because learning the second language involves learning new things or aspects about the language. The third and last phase is a product of first and second language learning.
  • 2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 584

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Pictographs

Indeed, given the fact that a range of images and icons have gained the status of international elements of the graphic lingua franca, such as the pictograms used in the digital setting to signify the [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 577

Learning Foreign Languages: What Are the Benefits?

While it is true that there are numerous study areas for a student to become proficient in, having a good command of a foreign language enhances the overall learning capacity and may even improve your [...]
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 829

Paweł Zielinski’s Report on Bilingualism

This text aims to find the correct definition of the term 'bilingual', by identifying the characteristics that define a bilingual, the distinctions caused by the different times a language is learned, and whether learning a [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1651

Issues in Learning English as a Second Language

However, it is a hard job to learn the language and use it in a proper way i.e.to achieve the objectives sought at the beginning of the learning as the language is not a good [...]
  • 3.5
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 872

Idioms in “A Piece of Cake”

The idiom A piece of Cake is used commonly in speech and literature in the modern world. Due to this fact therefore, the phrase has found a lot of application in the speech and English [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 548

Language Development in Early Childhood

The following are some of the ways through which a child's parent or caregiver can promote language development pertaining to the stage of development.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1227

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using English

At the same time, Graddol projects the decline of the popularity of the English language due to the challenge presented by the other languages.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 539

Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativity

As provided by one of the authors of this hypothesis, Edward Sapir, language shapes the speaker's reality not simply reflects it, that is why people who speak and think in different languages have different perceptions [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 633

Use of Pathos: Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”

During his lifetime, Martin Luther King Junior had the privilege of giving several speeches whose main theme in almost all was on the freedom of the black Americans.'I have a dream' was among the many [...]
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 584

Morphology and Syntax in Language

Syntax in linguistics includes; the placement of words in coherent phrases, the way a phrase is put together, and how it reads as a whole.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 604

Aspects of Modal and Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs carry information about the tense of the main verb, the mood, the person, the number, and other characteristics. The fact is that this word indicates to the reader or listener the duration of [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3070

Learning a New Language

Hence even if you speak the international language in your office, you need to learn how to speak the local language because you need to learn how to converse in the local language because it [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1398

Language Flexibility in Education

Speaking about the flexibility of language, it is possible to provide numerous examples that evidence the existence of some forms and meanings of the same word.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 503

Real Time and Apparent Time Studies

The dimensions of variations in the sociolinguistic paradigm includes the adoption of theoretical aspects such as the concept of function, stylistic and social meaning, variation and linguistic change, bi-directional relations between the synchronic and the [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 12
  • Words: 3223

The Word “Illuminati” Definition

It is said that the word is derived from the Latin word "illuminare" which means either to enlighten or illuminate. Some people associated the word illuminati to a powerful satanic group or cult that came [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 544

“Sexism in English: Embodiment and Language”

In this essay, as well as in all of her essays from the collection titled "Sexism and Language," Alleen Pace Nilsen holds the view that the feminine eponyms identify a woman with her body, while [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 629

Code Switching: Intersentential and Intrasentential

The paper finds out that code switching is more complicated than sometimes thought to only involve loaning and borrowing of words from one language to another, explained by the fact that code switching involves psychological, [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1976

Semantics

A group of words or a phrase that has been used to refer to the same object or concept is called a semantic field or a semantic domain, and gives meaning to a word in [...]
  • 2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 639

Dialect: Development and Significance

The history of dialect is unique indeed and has close connection to numerous social, geographical, and cultural concepts; the relation to these factors makes dialect a considerably local term, a language variation with its own [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 15
  • Words: 4112

Sociolinguistics: Diglossia

When sociolinguistics became popularized as a field of study in the late 1960s, there were two labels sociolinguistics and sociology of language for the same phenomenon, the study of the intersection and interaction of language [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1349

The Meaning of the Word “Bitch”

This paper will discuss the derogatory connotations of the word 'bitch' and the various changes the meaning of this word has undergone over time.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2010

English as a Communication Language

The reason behind this is the fact that English has been considered for long as a foreign language in the Expanding Circles and therefore only suitable as an official medium of communication with the native [...]
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 13
  • Words: 3593

American English Dialect

The main focus of the project is to analyse the phonological, structural and lexical features of the American dialect. In terms of the phonological distinctness of General American English, the group found out that the [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1158

What is a Language

Therefore, the grammar of a language is a description of the rules of the language, rules of a kind that human beings are innately disposed to learn.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 748

Language and Logic: The Similarities and Differences

A major function of language is that the symbols are subjective. There are various areas of study that will allow one to get the right interpretation of language and logic.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 586

Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue

The author provides an example of her visit to a dentist as a child, which inspired Anzaldua to think about culture and its connection to the mother tongue. Anzaldua's work provides an understanding of the [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 253

What Is the Relationship between Language and Humanity?

Biopolitics is crucial in the discussion of the relationship between humans and animals because it highlights the power of nature. In the same vein, man and animals have been differentiated by language, one of the [...]
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1101

Pragmatic Failure in Successful Communication

The "How do you do?" utterance is a manner of formal greeting between the acquaintances and traditional response to this expression would be the same "How do you do?" Obviously, the Englishman, intending to greet [...]
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1997

Bilingualism and Multilingualism

However, to discuss the aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism, it is necessary to focus on the factor of the social motivation and psychological peculiarities of the ability to use two or more languages for interactions.
  • 2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1044

Everyday Language as a Social Practice

This kind of language use indicates that a speaker can use the language as a tool of power in relation to the identity the language gives him/her. The language used by a specific group of [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 596

Religious Studies: Marcel Mauss Theory of Magic

Among the most common practices in the Christian fraternity, which, for the purpose of this paper, can be classified as magical, one could mention the practice of speaking in tongues. Can the practice of speaking [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 610

The Role of Media’s Influence

Generalization/Principles/Theories The effect of media on language and culture play a crucial role in the distinction of the American society and also affects it in national terms by comparing the American English and other varieties [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3421

Per Aspera ad Astra: Phrase’s Extended Definition

Considering the second interpretation, "our aspiration takes us," it is possible to see the same dismissive attitude to the kind and the amount of work since only the desire matters here.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 834

Challenges of English Learning

As compared to their native English-speaking classmates, bilinguals usually have to put in extra effort and time to cope with the fast pace of the American way of teaching. Some of the students find listening [...]
  • 1
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 677

English vs. Arabic Phonology and Syntax

English dispersed to the rest of the world becoming a leading language of international communication due to the extensive influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 15
  • Words: 4316

The Norman Conquest of the English Language

The conquest resulted in the development of two categories of the English language called the Old English and Middle English. Old English refers to the language used before the Norman Conquest, while the Middle English [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2747

Testing in Language Teaching

Since the result is crucial in teaching, an educator is to be able to measure the performance of the learners, their improvements, strengths and weaknesses and this is where testing is necessary.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2491

Differences in Languages between Arabic and English

The teachers should assist the learners with the good writing skills or patterns while understanding that they are changing writing and thinking patterns also rather than being irritated on the repetition of endless sentences by [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 819

Main Components of a Language Classroom: How to Learn & Teach

This essay involves a discussion on the main components of language learning and teaching within the sheltered approach of language acquisition which involves the incorporation of content and language while dealing with the learners of [...]
  • 4
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2670

The Usefulness of the Skopos Theory

Thus, the possibility of sticking to the original aim of the text is the value and usefulness of the Skopos theory.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 579

“The Atlanta Compromise Speech” by Booker T. Washington

The idea was that if it became clear to the whites that the black community was ready to contribute to national and global development, the barriers of social inequity and racial injustice would gradually diminish.
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1939

The Times New Roman Font: Evolution and Readability

The typography used in a newspaper represents a sample of the state of the medium. 7There is however, a strong tendency to ensure the legibility of the style and the readability of the writing, at [...]
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 25
  • Words: 6779

The Benefits of Knowing a Second Language

The first argument in favor of learning a second language is the fact that the development of cognitive abilities in the learning process helps maintain mental health.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 613

Universal Language Usefulness and Qualities

The influence of the universal language, the idea spread of which began in the 60s of the previous century, is difficult to overestimate.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1232

Status of English as the Global Language

However, I tend to differ with that school of thought and cite the following reasons as to why the future of English remains assured globally: the large numbers of English speakers and learners, the simplicity [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 599

Typical and Atypical Language Development

Typical language development refers to the normal processes of language acquisition in which individuals learn given aspects of language such as phones and morphology.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 787

The Change of Meaning of the Word “Nice”

The present paper traces the change of the meaning of the word and touches upon the peculiarity of the use of the word which was not widespread in times of Chaucer and Shakespeare, but has [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 815

Beowulf: Role of Women

Female characters in Beowulf are very important, as they help to understand of the entire poem and also the culture of the people in ancient times.
  • 1
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1391

Equivalence of Translation: English and Arabic

The accessibility and ease of presentation of the information enable all citizens who know English and have access to the Web to acquire the necessary knowledge in a timely and complete manner.
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1281

The Role of Structuralism in Linguistics

However, the works by Ferdinand de Saussure remain to be the most significant sources which define the nature of structuralism and the development of structural linguistics.
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 352

Addressee’s Influence on Speech Style

When addressing an audience, the kind of words used by the addresser is dictated by the age of the addressee. This is because the ability of a child to comprehend certain statements and words depend [...]
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2828

English Language Use in the Academic Arena

In spite of the fact that L1 has a role to play in students life, it is imperative to mention that English for academic purposes is very crucial not just to outshine in academic field, [...]
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2454

Philosophy of language: Speech act theory

Foundation of the speech act theory The best way to analyze the features that form the foundation of the speech act theory is to make a comparison between it and other theories that are presented [...]
  • 4.5
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 14
  • Words: 3762

Code Switching and Code Mixing

Suwito in Sutana says that "in the phenomenon of code mixing the dependent characteristics are indicated by the relationship between the function and role of language.
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2396

Definition: What is news?

Its purpose is to update on the latest state of a news item. Therefore, a fitting definition of news is an item of communication through mainstream, official and personal means of communication that passes on [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 573

Etymology: Definition, History, Functions

Origin form is also shown to determine the basic elements; this also traces back the linguistic transmission of one language to another and also in the same sense identifying in other languages its cognates.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 600

Connected, but Alone

As it was implied in the introduction, Connected, but Alone tackles the main issue of post-industrial modernity in the West the fact that the passage of time seems to have a strongly detrimental effect on [...]
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1347

Clutter in English Speech and Writing

To avoid clutters, a writer should avoid unnecessary words, avoid repetition and economize words. Highlighting and removing redundant and unnecessary words and phrases can help one to be a concise writer.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 173

Peer Tutoring and English Language Learning

For example, a peer tutor should be taught about establishing the rules of confidentiality when reporting the learning progress; moreover, there is a need to teach tutors-to-be how to provide constructive feedback for the responses [...]
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2499

English Articles and Their Usage by Arab Learners

Therefore, it means that articles in the English language are unique, especially the article 'the' because it is the only definite article in the English language. There are two forms of articles in the English [...]
  • 1
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3122

Syllables in phonology

An example of an onset in a syllable is 'r' in the word aread.' In the event that a word is made up of more than one syllable, each individual syllable comprises the normal syllable [...]
  • 3
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1148

Preparation for Conference Interpreting Work

One's questions at the end of the speech should be specific: it is acceptable to ask to repeat a name, but not a significant part of the speech.
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1141

The Importance of Teaching the Spelling

The foundation of error-free reading, speaking, and writing is laid during the period of spelling training, which is an important component of overall speech and language development.
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 653

Mongolian Language: All the Aspects

The Mongolian languages are spoken by about 6 million people who live mainly in three regions: the Republic of Mongolia, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China, and the region of Lake Baykal in Siberia.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2496

The History of the English Language

Chapter 3 and 4 of Gelderen's book looks at the analysis of how the English language evolved from the eras of prehistory to the modern English period.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 551

Curriculum Approaches in Language Teaching

The backward design of curriculum development in the context of second language learning will help eliminate the gap between understanding and learning with the aid of establishing a clear framework of goals that should be [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2282

Linguistics of the Gurbetcha Dialect

The aim of this project is to identify the roots of the dialect Gurbetcha and compare it to the other Cypriot dialects and varieties and Cypriot Turkish dialects in particular.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1171

Is Arabic Superior to Other Languages?

One of the primary factors that have made Arabic to remain the most superior language on earth is the amount of splendor and potency of most Arabic words.
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 793

Yiddish Language Origins and Development

They brought the German dialect and customs to the Jews in the Slavic territories. This led to the emergence of the Yiddish literature.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 572

Language Evolution in Human Being

The first participant would be given the names of all the fruits, and after mastering the names, the participants would read out the name of the fruits once its picture is shown.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2626

Hedges in Linguistics

To him, hedges are phrases or words that weaken or soften the force in the way of saying a certain idea".
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1562

Conceptual Metaphors and Metonyms in Love Pop Songs.

Through the use of this concept, the metaphor is understood better and meaning of the source and target is easily understood. The conceptual metaphor theory is useful in the understanding of the vital components of [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 23
  • Words: 6421

Speech Genre

However, the presenter of a speech genre is free to use accent to express individuality and is capable of mixing genres from diverse spheres.
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1531

Concept of Natural Language Processing (NLP)

As compared to this, the communication in natural language will ease the operation and communication with computer and in accessible way. Besides, the natural language processing can be used as production device in summarizing and [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 565

Syntactic Properties of Phrasal Verbs in English

With the help of evaluation of past studies in the same area, the reader gets a wonderful opportunity to clear up what is already known about phrasal verbs, why it is necessary to classify phrasal [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2457
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