The Linguistics Major in CAS

Learning Goals

Students graduating with a major in Linguistics are expected to attain:

• An understanding of the fundamental questions that drive modern linguistic research concerning formal structure, universals, acquisition, historical change, variation, and social dimensions of use, along with foundational knowledge in the core areas of linguistic theory.
• The ability to identify and describe with precision the empirical patterns found in sets of language data, and to construct well-reasoned linguistic analyses by formulating, testing, and refining hypotheses about these patterns.
• Experience in presenting their own research and/or reviewing the literature through written papers and oral presentations.

Major Requirements

The Linguistics major consists of 12 courses: 8 in Linguistics and 4 in foreign languages, as listed below. In addition to the requirements for the major, students must also satisfy general requirements of the College of Arts & Sciences. An advisor can assist you in designing your program of study.

Eight Linguistics courses

Introductory linguistics course

The following course, to be taken before other linguistics courses at the 300-level or higher:

• CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics (offered every semester)

Courses in linguistic theory

The following three courses in linguistic theory are required:

• CAS LX 301 Phonetics & Phonology: Introduction to Sound Systems
  (previously offered as CAS LX 510 Phonetics)
• CAS LX 321 Syntax: Introduction to Sentential Structure
  (previously offered as CAS LX 522 Syntax I)
• CAS LX 331 Semantics & Pragmatics: Introduction to Linguistic Meaning
  (previously offered as CAS LX 502 Semantics I)

Linguistic analysis of a specific language

One course in the linguistic analysis of a specific language:

  Offered in English

• CAS LX 391 Linguistic Field Methods
• CAS LX 368 Structure of African Languages
• SED DE 672 Structure of American Sign Language
• CAS LX 369 The Structure of Creole Languages
• CAS LX 364 The Linguistics of Contemporary English
• CAS LX 365 Variation in Dialects of English
• CAS EN 515 History of the English Language I
• CAS EN 516 History of the English Language II
• CAS LX 370 Romance Linguistics

 Knowledge of the language a prerequisite

• French
• CAS LX 372 / CAS LF 500 French Phonetics
• CAS LX 373 / CAS LF 503 The Structure of French: Phonology
• CAS LX 374 / CAS LF 502 The Structure of French: Syntax
• CAS LX 376 / CAS LF 506 Topics in French Linguistics


• German

• CAS LG 315 Introduction to German Linguistics

• Japanese
• CAS LJ 410 History of the Japanese Language
• CAS LJ 510 The Structure of the Japanese Language


• Spanish
• CAS LX 381 / CAS LS 420 Spanish in the United States
• CAS LS 504 History of the Spanish Language
• CAS LX 383 / CAS LS 507 Sounds of Spanish
• CAS LX 384 / CAS LS 508 Structure of Spanish
• CAS LX 386 / CAS LS 505 Topics in Spanish Linguistics

Two additional Linguistics courses

Two additional linguistics courses, including at most one at the 100 or 200 level, from the following:

• CAS LX 110 SAY WHAT? Accents, Dialects, and Society
• CAS LX 120 Language and Music
• CAS LX 205 The Origins of Writing
• CAS LX 235 Language in the Contemporary World: Technology, Society & the Law
• CAS LX 240 Great Linguists
• CAS LX 245 Language and Mind
• CAS LX 255 Language Myths
• CAS LX 311 Morphology: Introduction to the Structures and Shapes of Words
• CAS LX 317 "Having" and "Being" across Languages
• CAS LX 327 Focus
• CAS LX 328 Questions
• CAS LX 341 Sociolinguistics
• CAS LX 342 Language, Race & Gender
• CAS LX 345 Languages in Contact: The high stakes of grammatical border-crossing
• CAS LX 346 Language, Race & Gender
• CAS LX 349 Bilingualism
• CAS LX 355 Second Language Acquisition
• CAS LX 359 Interrupted Acquisition and Language Attrition
• CAS LX 360 Historical and Comparative Linguistics
• CAS LX 390 Topics in Linguistics
• CAS LX 394 Natural Language Processing and Computational Linguistics
• CAS LX 403 Phonological Analysis
• CAS LX 405 Prosody
• CAS LX 422 Intermediate Syntax: Modeling Syntactic Knowledge
• CAS LX 423 Advanced Syntax: Issues in Modern Syntactic Theory
• CAS LX 432 Intermediate Semantics: The Grammatical Construction of Meaning II
• CAS LX 433 Intermediate Pragmatics: Meaning in Context
• CAS LX 453 Acquisition of Phonology
• CAS LX 454 Acquisition of Syntax
• CAS LX 490 Intermediate Topics in Linguistics

One additional elective

One additional course chosen from among those listed under "Additional Linguistics courses" or "Linguistic analysis of a specific language" plus those listed below (or another related course, with approval of the major advisor).

Logic and philosophy of language

• CAS PH 160 Reasoning and Argumentation
• CAS PH 261 Puzzles and Paradoxes
• CAS PH 360 Symbolic Logic
• CAS PH 421 Frege, Moore, and Russell
• CAS PH 463 Philosophy of Language
• CAS PH 486 Topics in Knowledge, Language, and Logic



Language, culture, and society

• CAS AN 351 Language, Culture, and Society
• CAS AN 524 Seminar: Language and Culture Contacts in Contemporary Africa
• CAS AN 532 Literacy and Islam in Africa



Language acquisition and development

• CAS PS 544 Developmental Neuropsychology
• SAR SH 505 Introduction to Phonological Disorders
• SAR SH 523 Introduction to Speech Science
• SAR SH 524 Language Acquisition
• SAR SH 531 Introduction to Communication Disorders



Independent study

• CAS LX 491/492 Directed Study

Four courses in foreign languages

These four courses, at or above the 3rd semester level, must include at least two different non-native languages. (American Sign Language, taught through the School of Education, may count toward this requirement, as may any language taught by the Department of Romance Studies, the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, or the Department of Classical Studies.)

Click here for a list of languages offered at BU
or other information related to foreign language advising.

Declare your major or minor

To declare a Linguistics major or a minor in CAS, submit the form here:

• Major Declaration form
• Minor Declaration form

New Location for CAS Advising and Records Office

CAS Academic Advising (includes Records)
Room 401, 100 Bay State Road, Boston MA, 02215
Phone 617-353-2400, Fax 617–353-1859

Honors program

Follow this link for details on the Linguistics Honors Program, or click here for a printable description of that program.

Printable Brochures

You can download printable versions of Requirements for the Linguistics major.

Academic Programs

Major

• Linguistics
• New! Linguistics &
  Computer Science
• Linguistics & Philosophy
• Linguistics & Speech, Language,
  and Hearing Sciences
• French & Linguistics
• Italian & Linguistics
• Japanese & Linguistics
• Spanish & Linguistics

Honors programs

• Linguistics
• Linguistics & Computer Science
• Linguistics & Philosophy
• Linguistics & Speech, Language,
  and Hearing Sciences
• Other joint majors
• Application deadlines

• Divisional studies
• Foreign language

Dual degree BA/MA

• BA/MA in Linguistics

Graduate programs

• MA in Linguistics
• PhD in Linguistics
• MA in Applied Linguistics
• PhD in Applied Linguistics


• New! Graduate Certificate
  in Linguistics