Introduction to English Language and Linguistics: Literature vs. Linguistics

When we are talking about language and linguistics, we are talking about [how] it [language] is used, not language as some people use it—that’s literature. We are talking about language as it is used, really, out there. How it is used, why it is used, when it is used. Where it is used. What we use as language. Because the definition of what language is varies. . . . This is an open science.

—Dr. Edwards, King’s College London, English Language and Linguistics