Linguistics as a Science

How do we define what qualifies as a science? Does linguistics fit the definition? In this week's episode, we look at linguistics as a science: whether it fits the scientific method, how scientifically sound different parts of the field are, and why studying linguistics is a great tool for introducing people to how science works.

This is Topic #33! Our first one back from our second hiatus. We're glad to be back!

This week's tag language: German!

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Sources:
The two papers we refer to for checking out syntactic judgments are:
Jon Sprouse and Diogo Almeida. 2012. Assessing the reliability of textbook data in syntax: Adger's Core Syntax. Journal of Linguistics 48: 609-652.

Jon Sprouse, Carson T. Schütze, & Diogo Almeida. 2013. A comparison of informal and formal acceptability judgments using a random sample from Linguistic Inquiry 2001-2010. Lingua 134: 219-248.

Looking forward to next week!

Thanks for your videos. They're awesome. I'm learning so many things. And it was real kind of you to put subtitles in this video. A hug as huge as big Brazil!

[thelingspace]

+Andy Ding Thanks for the question, but I'm already taken. It's flattering, though. ^_^

[nonom]

Is linguistics a formal science or social/empirical science? Do a video on this.

[teacherdkennedy]

Hey--awesome as always. Just thought you should know that I couldn't click on this from your web site, either from the by number or from the by topic part.

[andrewfavia]

Keep up the great work! I may pass phonology 1 thanks to your vids lol

[oussamabahri]

you are speaking very fast ... sometimes I lose track of the meaning. Yet, the content is excellent !!

[eveblossomed]

The IPA on your ‘I love phonetics’ card should be wrapped in slashes, not brackets, since it’s more of a phonemic transcription than a phonetic one.

[verdakorako]

linguistics is one of the few sciences where it is OK to experiment on humans without permission. Don't ever try that with virology.

[theywalkinguptoyouand]

Those examples you gave are experiments done in fields of psychology and neurology and are applied in linguistics. But linguistics itself is so insulting to be called a science.