Linguistics Major

Requirements for the Major

Students majoring in linguistics are required to study three of the four core divisions of the field (Phonetics/Phonology, Syntax, Semantics and/or Sociolinguistics) and in addition to take a range of courses dealing with the variety of languages and variation within a language. There is also a cognitive science major offered through Pomona College. For more information see the online catalog for the Linguistics and Cognitive Science Department at Pomona. Majors are required to take:

• LGCS 010 PZ  
• A basic upper-division course in three out of the four core areas-LGCS 108 PO -Phonology  or LGCS 104 PO -Phonetics  , LGCS 105 PO -Syntax , LGCS 106 PO -Semantics  and/or LGCS 112 PZ -Language in Society .
• A course that looks at one language in depth or compares several languages. Sample courses that could fill this requirement include: LGCS 125 PO -Field Methods in Linguistics , ENGL 085 PO -History of the English Language  LGCS 101 PO -Comparative and Historical Linguistics , Spanish Linguistics, etc.
• At least three other linguistics courses.
• (a) At least two years of a foreign language or (b) the equivalent in demonstrated competence.
• LGCS 190 PO -Senior Seminar  . Students who wish to continue working on thesis after the seminar can register for LGCS 191 PZ -Senior Thesis  in Spring. Alternatively, students substitute some other type of project,if approved by the faculty advisor.

*Note: In the 5-College Course Schedule, Linguistics courses are listed as “LGCS” (Linguistics and Cognitive Science)

Linguistics Honors

Honors in the major are awarded when the student meets the required GPA for honors at their particular college and completes a thesis which the faculty judges to be of honors quality.