Taking language as the object of enquiry means that the questions being investigated are questions to do with language. It does not mean that only language and nothing else is under scrutiny. Exploring questions of language will often require us to investigate other phenomena: if we want to understand functional variation in language, for example, we will need to know something about the sociological foundations of human relationships and interaction. Equally, scholars exploring questions which are not questions about language may need to gain some theoretical insight into language as an essential component in their own enquiries.
以语言为研究对象意味着被调查的问题是与语言有关的问题。这并不意味着只有语言，没有其他东西在被审查。探索语言问题常常需要我们研究其他现象：例如，如果我们想了解语言中的功能变异，我们需要了解有关人际关系和互动的社会学基础。同样，探索不是语言问题的学者们可能需要获得一些理论洞察语言作为他们自己的查询中的一个重要组成部分。