Why study Language?
To understand the work of the deity.
In literate cultures, theology often is concerned with interpreting ancient texts.
Many neurological disorders affect language production and/or comprehension.
Linguistics offers a path into Speech and Audiology.
Teaching Second Languages:
Knowledge of linguistic concepts and structure is necessary to teach languages.
Human/Machine Interfaces:
Natural language processing will facilitate use of computers.
Language is the medium by which we express and even organize the contents of our minds.
More subtly, linguistic structure may provide clues to mental structure.
Often the arguments from linguistic structure to mental structure are naÔve.
There is no evidence that the language which one speaks determines or influences oneís mental contents.
Evidence from linguistics seems to show that we are not born tabula rasa, but instead are innately predisposed to learn a language.