Linguistics Major

Linguistics

This program is coordinated with the department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College.

How many languages are there? What does knowing a language entail? How do people develop this ability? How is language stored in the brain? Why don’t we all speak the same? Why do languages change over time? How different is human language from forms of animal communication? Questions such as these are studied systematically in the field of linguistics.

The linguistics major/minor allows students to study the mental structures of language (phonology, syntax, semantics) and how people use language in everyday life to organize their social worlds. In doing this, our major provides training in qualitative and quantitative data analysis, writing and argumentation, and a variety of methods for rigorous investigation.

Students participate in research both inside and outside classes, including documentation and analysis of understudied and endangered languages, computational analysis of large data sets, and investigation of the social impacts of language use.

Pitzer Advisers: C. Fought, C. Strauss. 

Major Requirements

Students majoring in linguistics are required to successfully complete at least nine courses. They will study three of the four core divisions of the field (Phonetics/Phonology, Syntax, Semantics and/or Sociolinguistics) and take a range of courses dealing with the variety of languages and variation within a language.

Required Courses

• LGCS 010 PZ -Introduction to Linguistics  
• A basic upper-division course in three out of the four core areas (Phonetics/Phonology, Syntax, Semantics and/or Sociolinguistics) such as LGCS 108 PO -Phonology  or LGCS 104 PO -Phonetics  , LGCS 105 PO -Syntactic Analysis , LGCS 106 PO -Semantics & Pragmatics  and/or LGCS 112 PZ -Language and 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 , LGCS 101 PO -Comparative/Historical Ling. , 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 in Linguistics  . 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)