metalinguistics: Meaning and Definition of

met•a•lin•guis•tics

Pronunciation: (met"u-ling-gwis'tiks), [key]
— n. (used with a sing. v.)
  1. the study of the relation between languages and the other cultural systems they refer to.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.