Philosophy of language was established as an independent discipline of philosophy only in the 20th century and quickly became one of its fundamental disciplines. However, its roots lie in antiquity, and since then, numerous philosophies have engaged with the topic of language. This introduction focuses on 20th-century linguistic thought, including Frege, Wittgenstein, Austin, Heidegger, Davidson, Brandom, and Derrida, and connects these positions both with each other and with the historical predecessors Plato, Aristotle, Locke, and Herder. The discussion is consistently oriented around the fundamental questions of the philosophy of language, providing a systematic overview of the important traditions and positions within the discipline.