Mila Tasseva-Kurktchieva, Director

Overview

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Its various subdisciplines investigate how speech sounds are organized (phonetics and phonology), how words, phrases, and sentences are structured (morphology and syntax), and how meaning is structured and interpreted (semantics and pragmatics). Linguistics also includes the study of how language is learned (language acquisition), how it is represented in the mind (psycholinguistics), how it changes over time (historical linguistics), and how it relates to social and cultural phenomena (sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology).

At the undergraduate level the program offers the possibility of an undergraduate minor or cognate field in linguistics, and knowledge gained in such a course of study can complement a wide variety of disciplines. Students who would especially benefit from a minor or cognate in linguistics are those majoring in anthropology, computer science, English, French, German, philosophy, psychology, and Spanish. A linguistics minor is also good preparation for a graduate program in speech pathology. A student wishing to have linguistics as a major concentration of study may pursue an emphasis in the field through the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (B.A.I.S.) degree program. Further information about the B.A.I.S. program may be obtained from the College of Arts and Sciences.

The recommended first step in learning about linguistics is LING 101: Linguistics 1: Introduction to Language which satisfies a Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Social Sciences Carolina Core requirement. After the introduction gained in this course, the student is prepared for specialized courses on the 200-500 level. (There are, however, no formal prerequisites for these courses.)  Possibilities include courses on the structure of human language, language in society, history of language, acquisition of language, and courses devoted to the description of a particular language: English, French, German, or Spanish.

Majoring in one of the related disciplines and minoring in linguistics can prepare students for a variety of careers, including teaching, translating, foreign service, and social work, or for graduate study in linguistics and any of its related fields. For students who want to pursue linguistics past the undergraduate level, the USC Linguistics Program offers a comprehensive graduate program in linguistics, which leads to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees or the Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Programs and Courses

Programs

• Linguistics, M.A.
• Linguistics, Ph.D.
• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Certificate

Courses

• LING 502 - French Linguistics
• LING 503 - Introduction to German Linguistics
• LING 504 - Introduction to Spanish Linguistics
• LING 505 - Interdisciplinary Topics in Linguistics
• LING 512 - French Phonology
• LING 514 - Contrastive English-Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
• LING 521 - Advanced English Grammar
• LING 530 - Language Change
• LING 533 - Introduction to the Germanic Languages
• LING 540 - Topics in Language and Culture
• LING 541 - Language and Gender
• LING 542 - Research in Language Conflict and Language Rights
• LING 543 - Discourse, Gender, and Politics of Emotion
• LING 545 - Anthropological Approaches to Narrative and Performance
• LING 546 - Japanese Language in Society
• LING 554 - The Structure of Modern Spanish
• LING 556 - Language and Globalization
• LING 565 - Philosophy of Language
• LING 567 - Psychology of Language
• LING 570 - Introduction to Language Development
• LING 600 - Survey of Linguistics
• LING 627 - Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
• LING 650 - Introduction to Morphology
• LING 701 - Quantitative Approaches to Linguistic Analysis
• LING 710 - Introduction to Phonology
• LING 711 - Phonological Theory
• LING 712 - Articulatory and Acoustic Phonetics
• LING 715 - Applied English Phonetics
• LING 720 - Introduction to Syntax
• LING 721 - Syntactic Theory
• LING 728 - Semantic Theory
• LING 729 - Pragmatic Theory
• LING 730 - Historical Linguistics
• LING 731 - History of English Language
• LING 732 - History of the French Language
• LING 733 - History of the German Language
• LING 734 - History of the Spanish Language
• LING 739 - The Evolution of Linguistic Theory, Practice, and Methods
• LING 740 - Introduction to Sociolinguistics
• LING 742 - Analysis of Conversation
• LING 744 - Language Contact Phenomena
• LING 745 - Varieties of American English
• LING 747 - Language as Social Action
• LING 748 - Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
• LING 765 - Studies in Philosophy of Language
• LING 772 - Technology in Foreign Language Education
• LING 780 - Discourse Analysis
• LING 781 - Stylistics
• LING 782 - Language Ideology: The Political Economy of Language Beliefs and Practices
• LING 790 - Second Language Acquisition
• LING 791 - Theory and Methodology in Second Language Acquisition
• LING 792 - Principles of Instructed Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching
• LING 795 - Principles and Strategies for Teaching ESOL
• LING 796 - Teaching Reading and Writing to ESOL Learners: Theory and Practice
• LING 798 - Practicum in Teaching ESOL
• LING 799 - Thesis Preparation
• LING 805 - Topics in Linguistics
• LING 806 - Directed Reading and Research
• LING 820 - Seminar in Syntax
• LING 830 - Seminar in Historical Linguistics
• LING 840 - Seminar in Language Variation
• LING 890 - Seminar in Language Acquisition
• LING 891 - Seminar in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
• LING 899 - Dissertation Preparation