THE UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR

The undergraduate major in Linguistics is designed to be flexible in order to meet the needs of a range of students. It consists of 1 prerequisite, 3 required courses chosen from the list below, and 4 electives. (There is also an undergraduate minor in Linguistics.) For more information about which courses you might like to choose based on your areas of interest, see the Designing your major program page.

PREREQUISITE

The prerequisite for the Linguistics major is LING 101[30]: Introduction to Language (Fall and Spring). Students contemplating a Linguistics major should fulfill their General College Social Science Perspective with LING 101. If you are considering the Linguistics major and are having trouble enrolling in LING 101, please contact us at the department.

REQUIRED CORE COURSES (choose three):

LING 200[60]: Sound Patterns in Language (Spring)
LING 201[61]: Introduction to Transformational Grammar (Spring)
LING 202[62]: Linguistic Variation and Language Change (Fall)
LING 203[63]: Language Acquisition and Development (Fall)

ELECTIVES

Four Linguistics courses beyond the required core are necessary for the completion of the major. Electives can be chosen from the courses offered by the Linguistics Department that are numbered 200 or higher (except LING 400[100]), as well as from courses that are cross-listed with Linguistics. Certain language-related courses offered by other departments can also be counted as major electives.

Courses offered by the Linguistics Department
Current or upcoming special courses (296[70] and 415[115])
Possible electives offered by other departments
Linguistics Major for pre-Speech & Hearing students

Please note that elective courses taken outside the Department should form part of a coherent program of study. Under most circumstances, no more than two non-LING courses may be used to fulfill the requirement for four elective courses. However, exceptions to the two-course limit may be allowed on a case-by-case basis, especially for COMM/SPHS courses. The Department usually does not consider elective courses beyond those on the above list except under extraordinary circumstances.

SPECIAL NOTE ON GRADUATE-LEVEL CORE COURSES: LING 523[123], 525[101], 528[210], and 530[130]

Most LING courses in the 400/500 range are intended for both graduate and undergraduate students. However, the following four courses are different. They are specifically designed for graduate students, since they are graduate-level equivalents of the core courses (200-203):
LING 523[123]: Phonological Theory I (Spring)
LING 525[101]: Historical and Comparative Linguistics (Spring)
LING 528[210]: Language Acquisition (Spring)
LING 530[130]: Syntactic Theory I (Fall)

Most undergraduates take the 200-level core courses, but exceptionally capable and motivated students may take the graduate-level equivalents with permission of the course instructor.

In most cases, students must choose either the undergraduate version or the graduate version of each core course; it is not possible to receive major credit for both versions. An exception to this may be possible for syntax (201->530), however.

ADVISING WORKSHEET

This is the worksheet that you will fill out in consultation with your College Advisor in Team 95 or Team Senior. (Please remember that you only need to complete through level THREE of a foreign language.)

Advising worksheet for Linguistics BA (pdf)
Advising worksheet for Linguistics BA -- pre-2006 curriculum (pdf)

HONORS THESIS

Linguistics majors may choose to write an honors thesis.

UNDERGRADUATE ADVISOR

For more information about the Linguistics major, please contact Dr. Jennifer Smith.