Linguistics, BA Major in

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Administered by the Department of Comparative Literature, Languages, and Linguistics.

Also see Hofstra’s Minor in Linguistics .

Linguistics is the systematic, scientific study of language. Linguistics has many subfields, including the history and relationship among languages, the study of meaning, grammar and context, the sound patterns of language, the interplay between language and society, the role of language and cognition in human evolution, the importance of language in interpersonal and intergroup communication, and the significance of linguistic analysis in law. It is language that most clearly separates humans from all other species on the planet. Human affairs revolve around language. Linguistics enables students to understand the inner workings of this most special human tool: how and why communication happens or fails to happen, how language is used to support people in groups, how the structure of language is the structure of human intelligence.

Linguistics prepares a student for many possible occupations. Linguistics gives language students a deeper understanding of how their language works. Linguists often go into language and computer-related fields. TESOL students teach English at all levels, and all over the globe. Anthropologists consider linguistics to be one of the core fields of anthropology. Linguistics helps those in legal professions to use language more precisely, and to better understand manipulation and deception in legal applications.

Program Requirements - Semester Hours: 30

Consists of the successful completion of 30 s.h. as follows: 12 s.h. of required courses, 9 s.h. of LING elective courses, and 9 s.h. of additional LING and/or other language-related elective courses. No more than 9 s.h. in any one prefix outside of LING may count toward the linguistics major.

Required Courses - Semester Hours: 12

LING 101 - (IS) Introduction to Linguistics Semester Hours: 3
LING 151 - Phonetics and Phonology Semester Hours: 3
or
SPCH 005A - Phonetics Semester Hours: 3
LING 152 - Morphology and Syntax Semester Hours: 3
LING 171 - (IS) Sociolinguistics Semester Hours: 3
or
LING 172 - (CC) Language and Society in Africa, Asia and Latin America Semester Hours: 3

Linguistics Electives – Semester Hours: 9

Recommended courses:

LING 007 - Linguistics of Asian Writing Systems Semester Hours: 3
LING 012S - First-Year Seminar Semester Hours: 1-3
LING 014F - First-Year Seminar Semester Hours: 3-4
LING 014S - First-Year Seminar Semester Hours: 3-4
LING 102 - (IS) Semantics and Pragmatics Semester Hours: 3
LING 103 - The Classical Roots of English Words Semester Hours: 3
LING 111 - Origins of Medical Terminology Semester Hours: 3
LING 137 - Introduction to Corpus Linguistics Semester Hours: 3
LING 158 - (IS) Forensic Linguistics Semester Hours: 3
LING 161 - Historical Linguistics Semester Hours: 3
LING 162 - Applied Linguistics Semester Hours: 3
LING 171 - (IS) Sociolinguistics Semester Hours: 3
LING 172 - (CC) Language and Society in Africa, Asia and Latin America Semester Hours: 3
LING 181 A-Z - Special Studies in Linguistics Semester Hours: 1-3
LING 191 - Departmental Honors Candidacy: Essay Semester Hours: 3
LING 192 - Internship in Linguistics Semester Hours: 1-6
Other appropriate LING courses , selected under advisement.

Language-related Electives – Semester Hours: 9

Recommended courses:

In addition to the list of courses below, students may also fulfill this requirement by taking any 001, 002, 003 level course in the CLLL and RLL language departments. This includes courses with the following prefixes: ARAB, ASL, CHIN, FREN, GERM, GRK, HEBR, ITAL, JPAN, LAT, MGRK, RUS, SPAN, SWAH). Courses must be taken in-residence.
ANTH 004 - (BH, CC) World Cultures Semester Hours: 3
ANTH 134 - (BH) Culture and Communication Semester Hours: 3
ANTH 148 - (BH,CC) Mind, Culture, and Society Semester Hours: 3
CSC 007 - (CS) Cybersecurity for Everyone Semester Hours: 3
ENGL 101 - History of the English Language Semester Hours: 3
ENGL 102 - Grammar for Writers Semester Hours: 3
PHI 165 - Philosophy of Language Semester Hours: 3
PSY 164 - Cognition Semester Hours: 3
RHET 004 - Interpersonal Communication Semester Hours: 3
RHET 007 - (CP) Public Speaking Semester Hours: 3
RHET 033 - Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction Semester Hours: 3
RHET 053 - Histories and Theories of Gender and Intercultural Communication Semester Hours: 3
RHET 055 - Intercultural Communication Semester Hours: 3
RHET 057 - Gender and Communication Semester Hours: 3
RHET 078 - Persuasion Semester Hours: 3
RHET 139 - (AA) Political Communication Semester Hours: 3
SOC 156 - (BH) Sociology of Communication Semester Hours: 3
SOC 180 - Statistics in Sociology Semester Hours: 4
SPAN 141 - Varieties of Spanish: Political and Ideological Issues Semester Hours: 3
SPAN 142 - The Spanish Language in History Semester Hours: 3
SPAN 143 - (CC) Spanish in Contact with Other Languages Semester Hours: 3
SPAN 144 - Spanish Language in the United States Semester Hours: 3
SPCH 010 - (BH, CC) Multicultural Aspects of Communication and Communication Disorders Semester Hours: 3
SPCH 101A - Experimental Psycholinguistics Semester Hours: 3
SPCH 102A - Normal Language Development Semester Hours: 3
SPCH 103 - Introduction to Speech Science Semester Hours: 3
WSC 103 - (AA) Words and Meanings Semester Hours: 3
Other appropriate LING and/or language-related courses specifically approved by a linguistics adviser.

Recommended Program Sequence - Total Hours: 124

Sample Schedule: Linguistics, BA (124 Semester Hours)

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