理论语言学，或一般语言学，是语言学的一个分支，它研究语言本身的本质，并试图回答语言是什么的基本问题;它是如何工作的;普遍语法(UG)作为一种领域特有的心理器官是如何运作的，如果它存在的话;它的独特性质是什么;语言如何与其他认知过程相联系，等等。理论语言学家最关心的是构建语言知识的模型，并最终发展成一种语言理论。一般认为理论语言学的核心领域是音系学、形态学、句法和语义学。虽然音位学常常指导音系学，但它常常与语义学一起被排除在理论语言学的范围之外。理论语言学还包括对语言共性的解释，即所有或许多语言都具有的共性。
Theoretical linguistics, or general linguistics, is the branch of linguistics which inquires into the nature of language itself and seeks to answer fundamental questions as to what language is; how it works; how universal grammar (UG) as a domain-specific mental organ operates, if it exists at all; what are its unique properties; how does language relate to other cognitive processes, etc. Theoretical linguists are most concerned with constructing models of linguistic knowledge, and ultimately developing a linguistic theory.The fields that are generally considered the core of theoretical linguistics are phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Although phonetics often guides phonology, it is often excluded from the purview of theoretical linguistics, along with semantics. Theoretical linguistics also involves the search for an explanation of linguistic universals, that is, properties that all, or many languages have in common.
