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Metalanguage: History
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Metalanguage refers to language used to describe, analyze, or discuss another language or aspects of language itself [1]. In linguistics, metalanguage consists of specialized terms, concepts, and symbolic systems that enable the formal description of linguistic structures, including sounds, words, grammatical patterns, and meanings [2]. It is distinguished from object language, which is the language being analyzed, whereas metalanguage functions as the descriptive framework through which properties and relations within the object language are examined [1]. Metalanguage may be expressed through ordinary linguistic forms or through technical notation developed for linguistic analysis and theoretical description [3].

  • object language
  • linguistic terminology
  • linguistic analysis
  • language description

Linguistics and Language Analysis • Language and Linguistics • Arts and Humanities • Social Sciences

References

  1. John Lyons. Semantics; Cambridge University Press (CUP): Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1977. [CrossRef]
  2. P. H. Matthews. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics; Oxford University Press (OUP): Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 2007. [CrossRef]
  3. Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press. https://www.colinphillips.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/chomsky1965-ch1.pdf
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