Uchicago Linguistics

[Rule Uresti]

Weare theory-oriented with a deep empirical interest in languages. One of the outstanding characteristics of this department is our commitment to a wide range of approaches to the study of language. Interdisciplinary, interdepartmental study is encouraged, and students regularly work with faculty in several other departments.

The faculty are involved in synchronic and diachronic research on languages from around the world. These varied interests are reflected in the range of topics of the dissertations that have been written in the Department.

Graduate students are expected to become active researchers as soon as possible after their arrival here. Many students come with strong undergraduate training in linguistics, or with a Master's degree; others come with strong training in fields such as philosophy, mathematics, or a particular language or language group.

Contacts Program of Study Program Requirements Summary of Requirements Grading Honors Minor Program in Linguistics Linguistics Courses American Sign Language Courses Modern Greek Courses Swahili Courses

The purpose of the BA program in linguistics is to provide a solid, integrated introduction to the scientific study of language through course work in the core subdisciplines of linguistics, as well as to ensure that the student has a language background sufficient to provide a complement to the theoretical parts of the program and for an understanding of the complexities of human language. This program provides students with a general expertise in the field and prepares them for productive advanced study in linguistics.

Students who are majoring in linguistics may visit the Department of Linguistics homepage at linguistics.uchicago.edu to learn about events and resources on and off campus and for links to information on employment opportunities.

Credit may be granted by examination. When any part of the language requirement is met by examination, the equivalent number of electives in linguistics must be substituted for quarter credit granted. With prior approval of the director of undergraduate studies, such electives may be taken in other departments.

In order to receive the degree in linguistics with honors, a student must write an honors essay. At the end of a student's third year, any student who has maintained a 3.0 or better overall GPA and a 3.5 or better GPA in linguistics courses may consult with the director of undergraduate studies about submitting an honors essay. The honors essay must be submitted by fifth week of the quarter in which the student plans to graduate. Complete guidelines and requirements for the honors essay can be obtained from the director of undergraduate studies.

Students wishing to write an honors essay are required to take two graduate-level courses (numbered 30000 or above) in areas most relevant to their thesis work, as determined in consultation with their adviser(s) and approved by the director of undergraduate studies.

This program may accept a BA paper or project used to satisfy the same requirement in another major with the consent of both program chairs. Students should consult with the chairs by the earliest BA proposal deadline (or by the end of their third year, when neither program publishes a deadline). A consent form, to be signed by both chairs, is available from the College adviser. It must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student's year of graduation.

Students in other fields of study may complete a minor in linguistics. The minor in linguistics requires a total of seven courses, which must include three linguistics electives (courses whose numbers begin with LING) and the following four courses:

Students who elect the minor program in linguistics must contact the director of undergraduate studies before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year to declare their intention to complete the minor, using the Consent to Complete a Minor Program form available from the student's College adviser or online. The student should submit the form approved by the director to the College adviser by the deadline above. Courses in the minor (1) may not be double counted with the student's major(s) or with other minors and (2) may not be counted toward general education requirements. Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades (not P/F), and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.

See our searchable database below for Department of Linguistics courses from 2019-20 to 2023-24. Feel free to browse the database by academic year, subfield category of course, level of course (graduate, undergraduate, crosslisted), quarter(s) of course, or instructor to find more specific information about our course offerings, including course descriptions.

As for levels of courses: 20000-level courses are for undergraduates only; courses with both 20000 and 30000 numbers can be taken by either undergraduates or graduates; and courses with 30000, 40000, or 50000 numbers are open only to graduate students, with very few exceptions. Current students should visit my.UChicago.edu to see up-to-date scheduling information for all University of Chicago undergraduate and graduate courses and to register for courses. The "Courses at a Glance" links on the right-hand column of this page will show you the Linguistics schedule as a whole for each quarter for the 2023-24 academic year.

This course offers a brief survey of how linguists analyze the structure and the use of language. Looking at the structure of language means understanding what phonemes, words, and sentences are, and how each language establishes principles for the combinations of these things and for their use; looking at the use of language means understanding the ways in which individuals and groups use language to declare their social identities and the ways in which languages can change over time. The overarching theme is understanding what varieties of language structure and use are found across the world's languages and cultures, and what limitations on this variety exist.

This course is an introduction to the study of speech sounds and their patterning in the world's languages. The first half of the course focuses on how speech sounds are described with respect to their articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual structures. There are lab exercises both in phonetic transcription and in the acoustic analysis of speech sounds. The second half focuses on fundamental notions that have always been central to phonological analysis and that transcend differences between theoretical approaches: contrast, neutralization, natural classes, distinctive features, and basic phonological processes (e.g., assimilation).

This course is an introduction to basic goals and methods of current syntactic theory through a detailed analysis of a range of phenomena, with emphasis on argumentation and empirical justification. Major topics include phrase structure and constituency, selection and subcategorization, argument structure, case, voice, expletives, and raising and control structures.

How do linguists approach the documentation of a new or understudied language? In this class, you will work with a native speaker of such a language to gain skills in linguistic description, analysis, and documentation. You will learn how to plan and carry out focused elicitation of linguistic data through in-person consultation with a speaker. You will learn methods for targeting different aspects of the grammatical system (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics) as well as how to code and organize your data in a way that will be useful for you and your research collaborators (in this case, your classmates). We will also discuss the ethics of conducting fieldwork, the kinds of challenges linguists face when conducting fieldwork, and best practices when it comes to working with communities of speakers in describing and documenting endangered languages. You will be expected to conduct weekly in-class elicitation with our linguistic consultant as a group, and you will also meet individually with the consultant once a week for additional elicitation. Ultimately, the goal of the class is for us to describe different aspects of the grammar of the language of our consultant. Each student will select a unique topic on which to focus and will present their findings to the class at the end of the quarter.

American Sign Language is the language of the deaf in the United States and much of Canada. It is a full-fledged autonomous language, unrelated to English or other spoken languages. This introductory course teaches the student basic vocabulary and grammatical structure, as well as aspects of deaf culture.

This course introduces cross-linguistic phonological phenomena and methods of analysis through an indepth examination of fundamental notions that transcend differences between theoretical approaches: contrast, neutralization, natural classes, distinctive features, and basic non-linear phonological processes (e.g., assimilation, harmony, dissimilation).

This is the first in a two-course sequence designed to provide a foundation in the scientific study of all aspects of linguistic meaning. The first quarter focuses primarily on pragmatics: those aspects of meaning that arise from the way that speakers put language to use, rather than through the formal properties of the linguistic system itself, which is the domain of semantics. However, a central goal of the course will be to begin to develop an understanding of the relation between pragmatics and semantics, by exploring empirical phenomena in which contextual and conventional aspects of meaning interact in complex but regular and well-defined ways, and by learning analytical techniques that allow us to tease these two aspects of linguistics meaning apart.

This course explores definitions of race and ethnicity, asking how both are socially constructed through structures and institutions, as well as interpersonally. Further, we explore what linguistics can tell us about race and how language is used to racialize to individuals.

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