Linguistics is the science of human language. It seeks to determine that which is necessary in human language, that which is possible, and that which is impossible. While linguists work to determine the unique characteristics of individual languages, they are constantly searching for linguistic universals—properties whose explanatory power reaches across languages. The discipline of linguistics is organized around syntax (the principles by which sentences are organized), morphology (the principles by which words are constructed), semantics (the study of meaning), phonetics (the study of speech sounds), phonology (the sound patterns of language), historical linguistics (the ways in which languages change over time), sociolinguistics (the interaction of language with society), psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics (the representation of language in the brain). Current research by faculty members extends across the field, including topics in the interaction of syntax and semantics, phonetics and phonology, languages in contact, language change, urban sociolinguistics, and computer analogies of syntactic processes.
New York University's Department of Linguistics has established itself as a top linguistics program in the United States and the world, covering an extensive range of subfields including: phonetics/phonology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, morphology, neurolinguistics, language acquisition, and computational linguistics.
The department has 15 core faculty members, several affiliated faculty in other departments including Psychology and Communicative Sciences and Disorders, and several visiting professors and scholars each year, with eight laboratories and research groups.
Honors in Linguistics
The Department of Linguistics offers an honors track for students pursuing the Linguistics major. To graduate with honors, students must complete an honors thesis, which is an original research project of 40 to 50 pages conducted over two semesters. The thesis is due on April 1st of the student’s senior year. Additionally, students must take two advanced courses: LING-UA 102 Research Seminar (4 credits) in the fall semester, and one other advanced undergraduate course, graduate course, or independent study, chosen in consultation with the thesis adviser (totaling 8 credits). The Research Seminar and the additional course chosen with the student's adviser may be counted as advanced electives. The thesis must be presented either at an oral conference presentation or in a private defense/discussion with the thesis adviser and a second reader.
Students who excel in the Linguistics major are encouraged to begin developing their honors project as early as the second semester of their sophomore year. To pursue honors, students should have a strong background in linguistics, typically gained through high-level coursework. This is especially important for students in joint majors with French, German, Italian, or Spanish, as they may not have as extensive a foundation in linguistics.
Admission to the honors program is by application in the second semester of the junior year. To be eligible, students must have a GPA of 3.65 or higher both overall and in linguistics. Applications are due by April 15th and must include a one- to two-page description of the proposed thesis topic. The student must also identify a faculty member in the Department of Linguistics who has agreed to supervise the project, and the thesis description should be written in consultation with this faculty adviser.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.
Program Requirements
The major in Linguistics requires nine 4-credit courses (36 credits) as outlined below, which must be completed with a grade of C or higher. Courses graded Pass/Fail do not count.
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will have:
An understanding of how to approach the study of human language scientifically.
The ability to question assumptions and debunk certain myths about language use and linguistic variation.
The skills to analyze linguistic data in the subfields of phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and sociolinguistics.
Knowledge of methods used to analyze linguistic variation in different social contexts.
The capability to carry out linguistic research and present results and arguments in both oral and written work.
Policies
Program Policies
Grade Policy
No grade lower than C (or any course taken Pass/Fail) may be counted toward the major or toward a joint major.
Other Major Policies
In some cases, courses taken for a major in the Department of Linguistics may be applied to the requirements of another major or minor if the departments consider this appropriate. Students must then obtain written approval for the shared course(s) from the directors of undergraduate studies of both departments. No student may double count more than two courses between two majors (or between a major and a minor, or between two minors).
All Linguistics majors, joint majors, and combined majors must select and register for linguistics courses with the advice of the director of undergraduate studies in the linguistics department.
With permission, students may choose from CSCD-UE 221 Intro to Audiology, CSCD-UE 231 Anatomy/Physiology of Speech/Hearing Mechanism, and/or CSCD-UE 241 Neuroanatomy and Physiology/Communication and count them toward the major as electives. These courses are offered by the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders in the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, but do not count against CAS students’ allowance of 16 credits taken outside of the College in the other schools of NYU. (However, they cannot be applied toward the 64-credit UA residency requirement for internal and external transfers to the College.)
Note that LING-UA 11 Sounds of the World’s Languages is only taught in the fall; it is a prerequisite for LING-UA 12 Phonological Analysis, which is only offered in the spring.
Students may take either LING-UA 1 Language or LING-UA 3 Language and Mind but not both.
Recommended Work Outside of the Department
To meet standards currently set in the field of linguistics it is suggested to gain competence in one or more of the following areas during one’s undergraduate studies: (1) a foreign language; (2) psychology, for issues of language and the mind, and anthropology, for issues of language and culture; (3) mathematics or logic, for an understanding of modern algebra and mathematical logic; (4) philosophy of language; and (5) one or more computer languages for computational linguistics. Majors and minors in Linguistics should avail themselves of NYU study away programs where appropriate. Note that any course substitution or transfer credit toward a required course for the major must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.