Descriptive linguistics is a subfield that studies the structures of language. This subfield focuses on analyzing and describing the elements and patterns that make up language, such as phonetics, syntax, semantics, and morphology. Descriptive linguistics aims to document and understand how languages are structured and how they function.
For example, descriptive linguistics would investigate the rules that govern how sounds are combined to form words in a language (phonology), how words are arranged to create meaningful sentences (syntax), and how words convey meaning (semantics). By studying these structural aspects of language, linguists can uncover the underlying principles that govern language systems across different languages.
In contrast, the study of how language is used in social contexts falls under sociolinguistics, while linguistic determinism refers to the idea that language determines the way we think. Descriptive linguistics, therefore, is primarily concerned with analyzing and describing the internal structure of language itself.
