metalinguistics

noun

meta·​lin·​guis·​tics ˈme-tə-liŋ-ˌgwi-stiks 

plural in form but singular in construction

: a branch of linguistics that deals with the relation between language and other cultural factors in a society

Word History

Etymology

meta- + linguistics

Note: In this sense the term was probably introduced by the American linguist George L. Trager (1906-92) in "The Field of Linguistics," Studies in Linguistics: Occasional Papers, no. 1 (1949), p. 7.

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above