XXth-century theories of language: an epistemological diagnosis

SUMMARY

This article id intended as a study in the methodology and epistemology of linguistics, a field which developed out of theoretical linguistics in the past thirty years.Meth­odology and epistemology (or philosophy) 1 of linguistics can be subsumed underthegeneral domain of "philosophical linguistics" (cfr. Kasher - Lappin 1977), whichalsoincludes a theory of meaning and reference, a theory of linguistic (or, moregenerallysemiotic) communication, and - in some cases - a formalization of linguisticsubsys­tems. The specific contribution of methodology and epistemology of linguistics liesinthe definition of the object of linguistics, in the determination and justification of itsre­ search techniques, in the appreciation of its results with respect to a broader field ofin­ vestigation, in the reflection on the nature, status, and variability of approaches tolan­ guage.