Early-to mid-20th century: descriptive linguistics.

In the 20th century, the emphasis shifted from language change to language description.
Structural Linguistics is sometimes misunderstood. It does not necessarily refer to a separate branch or school of linguistics. All linguistics since de Saussure is structural, as 'structutal' in this broad sense merely meansthe recognition that language is a paterned system composed of interdependent elements, rather than a collection of unconnected individual items.