Linguistics

The Department of Linguistics emphasizes the inseparability of theoretical and empirical work, and the interrelatedness of diachronic and synchronic approaches to the study of language. The courses offered place an emphasis on linguistic theory, historical linguistics, and the cognitive aspects related to language. Undergraduates may pursue a Concentration or Secondary Fields in Language Theory and Language Structure, Language and Linguistic Theory, and Language, Mind and Brain.

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Gennaro Chierchia

Gateway Courses

Spring 2024

Ling 83: Language, Structure and Cognition
Kathryn Davidson

What do the world's almost 7,000 languages have in common? Why do they show recurrent commonalities and principled differences? What do they reveal about the human ability for speaking and thinking? How do languages develop? How do they die? This course addresses these and related questions while introducing the languages of the world; their distribution, recurrent structural properties, and genetic classification; processes of language contact; and the relationship between language and the brain.

For a full list, please check the department's website.