Language disorder (LD), as a public health concern, has received increasing attention from researchers. This study provides an overview of the knowledge domain of LD research and unveils the thematic patterns and emerging trends. A total of 8,649 articles on LD from 2003 to 2022 were collected from WoS and CiteSpace was employed for data analysis. The study focuses on temporal and geographic distribution, top journals, categories, authors, and co-citation analyses of references. The findings indicate that: (1) LD is of most concern in the fields of linguistics, rehabilitation, audiology and speech-language pathology, psychology, and neuroscience; (2) there is a dominance of the USA and England in LD publications; (3) the main thematic patterns include identification of language problems, neurogenetic mechanisms, diagnostic markers, cognitive mechanisms, auditory processing, and motor speech disorder; (4) the emerging trends include criteria and terminology for language problems, cognitive mechanisms, neurobiological factors, diagnostic markers, the population design, and longitudinal design. Future trends suggest a continued interdisciplinary approach into potential origins of LD, integrating new theoretical insights from linguistics, psychology, neuroscience and genetics, and this integration is enhanced by the application of digital technologies and artificial intelligence for improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This scientometric analysis provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of LD research, underscoring the need for more intense collaboration and further investigations in the field of LD.