All humans use language, and yet many of them have never heard of Linguistics as a field until college. Linguistics deals both with the study of particular languages and the search for general properties that are common to all languages.
The study of Linguistics leads to an understanding of sounds, grammar and meaning across languages and cultures and that exposes students to descriptive, experimental, and historical approaches to the study of language.
The goal of my research is to inform typical and atypical development and advance paradigms for cross-age (infant-to-child) comparisons of language acquisition. Furthermore, my research aims to inform neural markers of language delays that can provide early detection and clinical intervention during key windows of neuroplasticity.
What is linguistics? Which classes should you take as a non-major? What can you do with a B.A. in Linguistics?
Most linguistics courses offer a Social Sciences (So) distributional credit, and some courses may offer additional credits, such as Writing (WR), Quantitative Reasoning (QR), Sciences (Sc), or Humanities (Hu).
Yes! The linguistics major has a fairly flat structure (that is, many of the classes do not have to be taken in a particular sequence). That makes it relatively straightforward to combine with another major.
Students have double-majored in recent years in linguistics and a language/literature program (e.g. Italian, Spanish/Portuguese), Classics, Anthropology, ER&M, Computer Science, Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, English, and Mathamatics (among others). Please consult with the DUS for more information.
Yes! However, since Directed Studies takes most of your courses for first year, it’s a good idea to take LING 110 (Language: Introduction to Linguistics) in the Fall or LING 112 (Introduction to Historical Linguistics) in the Spring. This will prepare you to take further linguistics classes in Sophomore year.
Yes! Because the sequence of classes is flexible it’s usually straightforward to combine a linguistics major with a semester of study abroad. We count appropriate study abroad classes for credit towards the major.
See Computing and Linguistics in the Yale College Programs of Study.
All Linguistics majors write a capstone essay in their senior year.
Attending colloquia, lunch talks, and other department events is a good way to learn more about the field and topics you may not have studied in class. You can also join some of our labs and reading groups.
Dorothy R. Diebold Professor of Linguistics
