Editing Cognitive science (section)

===Knowledge and processing of language===
{{Main|Theoretical linguistics|Cognitive linguistics|Language|Linguistics|Psycholinguistics}}
[[Image:Cgisf-tgg.svg|thumb|230px|A [[Colorless green ideas sleep furiously|well known example]] of a [[Phrase structure rules|phrase structure tree]]. This is one way of representing human language that shows how different components are organized hierarchically. ]]

The ability to learn and understand language is an extremely complex process. Language is acquired within the first few years of life, and all humans under normal circumstances are able to acquire language proficiently. A major driving force in the theoretical linguistic field is discovering the nature that language must have in the abstract in order to be learned in such a fashion. Some of the driving research questions in studying how the brain itself processes language include: (1) To what extent is linguistic knowledge innate or learned?, (2) Why is it more difficult for adults to acquire a second-language than it is for infants to acquire their first-language?, and (3) How are humans able to understand novel sentences?

The study of language processing ranges from the investigation of the sound patterns of speech to the meaning of words and whole sentences. [[Linguistics]] often divides language processing into [[orthography]], [[phonetics]], [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[syntax]], [[semantics]], and [[pragmatics]]. Many aspects of language can be studied from each of these components and from their interaction.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.decodedscience.org/linguistics-short-introduction-beating-heart-human-communications/42808|title=Linguistics: Semantics, Phonetics, Pragmatics, and Human Communication|date=2014-02-16|work=Decoded Science|access-date=2018-02-07|language=en-US|archive-date=6 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606211715/https://www.decodedscience.org/linguistics-short-introduction-beating-heart-human-communications/42808|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Not sure that Decoded Science is the best possible source here|date=June 2018}}

The study of language processing in ''cognitive science'' is closely tied to the field of linguistics. Linguistics was traditionally studied as a part of the humanities, including studies of history, art and literature. In the last fifty years or so, more and more researchers have studied knowledge and use of language as a cognitive phenomenon, the main problems being how knowledge of language can be acquired and used, and what precisely it consists of.<ref>{{cite book | first=Daniela | last=Isac | author2=Charles Reiss | title=I-language: An Introduction to Linguistics as Cognitive Science, 2nd edition |url=http://linguistics.concordia.ca/i-language/ | year=2013 | page=5 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0199660179 | access-date=29 July 2008 | archive-date=6 July 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706173454/http://linguistics.concordia.ca/i-language/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Linguists]] have found that, while humans form sentences in ways apparently governed by very complex systems, they are remarkably unaware of the rules that govern their own speech. Thus linguists must resort to indirect methods to determine what those rules might be, if indeed rules as such exist. In any event, if speech is indeed governed by rules, they appear to be opaque to any conscious consideration.