The primary focus of linguistics is the scientific study of language and its structure. Linguists explore various aspects of language, including phonetics (sounds), phonology (sound systems), morphology (word formation), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (contextual language use). The discipline examines how languages evolve over time, their social and cultural dimensions, and how they are processed and produced by speakers. Linguistics also encompasses applied fields such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and computational linguistics, contributing to our understanding of human communication and cognition.