New York University College of Arts and Science 18 courses 128 total credits
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.
| Select three additional courses from the offerings of the department (major electives) | 12 credits |
General Education Requirements
First-Year Seminar
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EXPOS-UA 1 | Writing as Inquiry | 4 |
Major Requirements
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LING-UA 1 or LING-UA 3 | Language or Language and Mind | 4 |
| LING-UA 4 | Meaning | 4 |
| LING-UA 11 | Sounds of the World’s Languages | 4 |
| LING-UA 12 | Phonological Analysis | 4 |
| LING-UA 13 | Grammatical Analysis | 4 |
Major Requirements
Select one of the following:
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LING-UA 8 | Language, Power, and Identity | 4 |
| LING-UA 9 | Indigenous Languages of the Americas | 4 |
| LING-UA 14 | Language Change | 4 |
| LING-UA 15 | Language & Society | 4 |
| LING-UA 18 | Bilingualism | 4 |
| LING-UA 21 | Sex, Gender, & Language | 4 |
| LING-UA 23 | African American Vernacular English | 4 |
| LING-UA 30 | Language in Latin America | 4 |
| LING-UA 38 | Pidgin & Creole Languages | 4 |
| LING-UA 57 | English Dialects | 4 |
| LING-UA 62 | Language, Power, and Technology | 4 |
| Total Major Requirements | 4 credits | |
Click a course code or title to read the full course description.
Our subject experts help with essays, research papers, case studies, discussion posts, and capstone projects for these programs — written from scratch to your course requirements.
Program and course information is reproduced from each university's published academic catalog for informational purposes and may change. Always confirm current requirements with your university. We are an independent academic support service and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the universities listed.
Expert guides on essay writing, citation styles, study skills, and academic success.
View All Articles
Learn how to write a good research question for a paper. Narrow your topic, identify a research problem, and create a focused question with practical examples.
Learn how to choose a research topic you can actually research. Discover how to narrow broad ideas, find reliable sources, and develop a focused research question.
Learn how to cite sources in a research paper using APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, with in-text citation examples and reference-list tips.