Introduction to English Linguistics The subfields of linguistics assumed under "theoretical linguistics" syntax: sentence structure phonology: phonemes, the smallest unit of lgs, no meaning morphology: morphemes, the smallest unit of lgs, meaning semantics: meaning, relation between parts of speech. Competence the ability to learn, speak and understand lgs knowing lgs ideal unlimited Performance: the use and production of lgs ling. behavior imperfect limited Descriptive ling. aims to describe grammatical vs. none-grammatical none-judgmental done by linguists Prescriptive ling. aims to tell how to use lg correct vs. incorrect judgmental done by purists Phonetics acoustic physical properties of sounds articulatory how sounds are produced