The word “linguistic” comes from the Latin word lingua, which means tongue or speech. The suffix -istic indicates a branch of knowledge or study. Thus, linguistics is the study of language as expressed in spoken and written forms.
Linguists use various methods to analyze languages, including comparative studies, historical analyses, and structural analyses. Comparative studies examine how languages are similar to and different from one another. Historical analyses trace the development of languages over time. Structural analyses analyze the internal structure of languages (such as grammar).
Linguists also apply their knowledge to practical problems such as developing new writing systems for previously unwritten languages; improving reading instruction; designing better ways to store and retrieve information using computers; aiding law enforcement agencies in solving crimes involving linguistic evidence; helping people with communication disorders such as stuttering; creating speech-recognition software; developing machine translation systems that can translate between different human languages; planning for international emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks where people with different language backgrounds need to communicate with each other.