What is the name of the scientific study of language?

• A. Linguistics
• B. Semantics
• C. Phonetics
• D. Pragmatics

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is naming the field that studies language in a scientific way. Linguistics is that field, and it looks at how languages are structured, how sounds are produced and organized, how words form and combine, how sentences are put together, what words and sentences mean, and how language is used in real situations. Semantics focuses specifically on meaning, phonetics on the physical production of speech sounds, and pragmatics on how language is used in context. So linguistics is the best answer because it encompasses the entire study of language, while the other terms refer to particular aspects within that broad field.