Department of Linguistics

• Overview
• What is Linguistics?
• Undergraduate advisor
• How to declare

• Major
• Joint major
• Minor
• Program Guide

• Exchanges, study abroad, summer programs
• Internships
• Fellowships
• Career opportunities

The department offers a Linguistics major, and seven interdisciplinary majors combining Linguistics with one of the following: Anthropology, Chinese, German, Japanese, Philosophy, Psychology, or Russian. See the joint majors for alternative tracks.

Common requirements for all majors: A grade of C or better must be earned in any course used to satisfy major requirements. All majors must complete the Junior Year Writing requirement in the department.

Linguistics Major Requirements

Twelve courses (38 credits minimum), including Junior Year Writing.

I. Required core (17 credits):

• 201 Introduction to Linguistic Theory
• 401 Introduction to Syntax
• 402 Speech Sounds and Structure
• 414 Introductory Phonetics for Linguists
• 510 Introduction to Semantics

II. Language requirement (6-7 credits):

Two courses, from any combination of the following:

• 404 Field Methods
• 395A/390D African American English
• Linguistically oriented courses on a language other than English
• at the 300-400 level
• Courses on the structure of a language other than English

III. Departmental electives (15 credits):

Five additional courses are required. No course that is applied to any other requirement can be applied to this one. Other than that any linguistics class can be an elective with the proviso that at most one 100 level class can be used as an elective. Students may apply up to two courses from certain related departments (e.g., Anthropology, Computer Science, Communication Disorders, Legal Studies, Philosophy, Psychology) to this requirement, but must receive prior approval from the undergraduate adviser.

Courses offered within the Department of Linguistics:

• LING 101 People and Their Language
• LING 113 Language and Diversity in the U.S.A.
• LING 397 Special Topics
• LING 404 Field Methods
• LING 409 Formal Foundations of Linguistic Theory
• LING 411 Introduction to Language Acquisition
• LING 412 Language Processing and the Brain
• LING 413 Sociolinguistics
• LING 503 Intermediate Syntax
• LING 505 Introduction to Historical Linguistics

Typical courses offered outside the Department of Linguistics:

• Anthropology:
  • 360 Language in Culture & Society
  • 363 Linguistic Anthropology: Comparative Dimensions
  • 597 Language & Power
• Computer Science:
  • 121 Introduction to Problem Solving with Computers
  • 187 Programming with Data Structures
  • 250 Introduction to Computation
• Communication Disorders:
  • 210 Introduction to Communication Disorders
• Legal Studies:
  • 250 Introductory Legal Studies
    251 Intermediate Legal Studies
• Philosophy:
  • 310 Intermediate Logic
    382 Philosophical Approaches to Science
    584 Philosophy of Language
• Psychology:
  • 315 Cognitive Psychology
    318 Psychology of Language
    391 The Psychology of Language