Introduction
Linguistics is at the crossroads of many fields of inquiry. The concentration in linguistics is designed both for students interested in the discipline itself and also for those wishing to use their understanding of linguistic structure to pursue other disciplines. Linguists are concerned with such issues as what all human languages have in common, why languages change, how our linguistic abilities interact with our cognitive abilities, how language is learnable, and developing formal models of linguistic structure. Fields as diverse as anthropology, legal reasoning, language pathology, technical writing and editing, as well as aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) include speech recognition, machine translation, and natural language user-interfaces all rely heavily upon methods and models developed in linguistics.

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Requirements (10 courses)

A. Prerequisite

COGS0410 Introduction to Linguistic Theory (may be waived in special instances)

B. Required Courses (4)

1. COGS1210 Introduction to Phonology

2. COGS1310 Introduction to Syntax

It is recommended that students take COGS1210 and COGS1310 before higher level courses.

3. One additional course in phonetics, phonology, syntax, or semantics from the following list:

COGS1110 Introduction to Semantics
COGS1120 Lexical Semantics
COGS1130 Formal Semantics
COGS1240 The Production, Perception, and Analysis of Speech
COGS1630 Topics in Phonology
COGS1640 Topics in Syntax and Semantics

4. One course in psycholinguistics from the following list:

COGS1410 Language Processing
COGS1420 Syntactic Theory and Syntatic Processing
COGS1430 Child Language Acquisition
COGS1450 Research in Psycholinguistics
COGS1470 Language Learning Disorders
COGS1480 Language and the Brain
COGS1740 Topics in Child Language

C. Electives (5)
The remaining five courses may be drawn from any of those courses listed above, or from the following courses in Linguistics and related disciplines, with the restriction that only two may be below 1000 level courses.

COGS0070 Language, Truth, and Advertising
COGS0320 Biology and Evolution of Language
COGS0450 Language and the Mind
COGS0870 Language in Africa
COGS1360 Introduction to Computational Linguistics
COGS1720 Introduction to Mathematical Linguistics

ANTH1800 Sociolinguistics

SLAV1300 Sociolinguistics

ENGL1210 History of the English Language
ENGL1360 Seminar in Old English
ENGL1900 Literature and the Structure of English

PHIL1760 Philoosophy of Language

Courses above the 1000-level from other departments dealing with the history and structure of a language may also qualify, with the consent of the advisor. At least 3 of these courses must be at the 1000-level or above. Other courses may be sustituted at the discretion of the concentration advisor.

 

7. Senior Seminar
Concentrators are urged to take a seminar or independent study in their senior year, as a way of integrating or deepening their concentration studies.

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Degrees with Honors (12 courses)

Candidates for Honors in Linguistics will take a minimum of 10 courses for the concentration, which will consist of all requirements for the standard program, plus two additional courses in Linguistics or related disciplines. One of these courses may be an independent study project upon which the thesis is based. Honors candidates should formalize their projects in consultation with their advisors by the end of Semester 6.

Although no specific grade-point average has been set for acceptance into the Honors Program, only students with a good record and an advisor willing to work with them will be allowed into the Honors Program.

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Independent Study

Independent study is encouraged for the A.B. degree. Students should sign up for COGS1980 with a faculty advisor who is a member of the Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences. Arrangements should be made in Semester 6 for students expecting to do independent study during Semesters 7 and/or 8.

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Comments

Foreign language courses will generally not count towards the concentration requirements, except those that focus on the structure or history of the language. Students, however, are advised to gain familiarity with at least one foreign language, and are encouraged to take at least one course that deals with the structure of a language other than English.

It is strongly recommended that concentrators take COGS1210 and COGS1310 before Semester 7.

Concentration Advisor: Katherine Demuth, x3-1053

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