Course description
A coordinated program with 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.
There are many sub-fields of linguistics. Phoneticians study how sounds are produced and perceived. Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized into unique systems for different languages. The structure of words is examined in morphology. The organization of words into larger units is called syntax. Meaning is studied in the sub-fields of semantics and pragmatics. In these sub-fields linguists are creating models of the structural features of language, in order to identify the defining characteristics of human language. Other linguists study the ways in which language is used. Some study the language development of children. Others the ways in which the form of language we use may vary according to social categories such as gender, social class, and ethnicity. Some linguists study the ways in which languages have evolved over time and attempt to identify general principles of language change.
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 contact Jay Atlas or Martin Hackl in the Linguistics and Cognitive Science Department at Pomona. For information on American Sign Language, see Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures.
