Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of language—how it is structured, how it is acquired, how it is used to convey information, and how it changes over time. While many linguists do speak more than one language—or at least know how to approach the study of other languages—linguistics is much more than this. Through courses and a wide variety of research opportunities, our students explore how languages are structured (sentence structure, sound patterns, meaning and more), and how those structures are processed by the human brain. Since language is integral to all societies, linguists are interested in how language affects culture, and how social factors (place of birth, social class, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.) impact language use. We approach language from a global perspective, investigating commonalities and differences across languages in order to increase our understanding of what makes human communication unique.