Linguistics
Head of Department: Elabbas Benmamoun
Department Office: 4080 Foreign Languages Building, 707 South Mathews, Urbana, (217) 333-3563
Linguistics
The Department of Linguistics offers undergraduate instruction of two types: general linguistics and non-Western languages courses.
General linguistics courses have two purposes: they are intended to prepare students for various careers in which the scientific study of language is of significance; they are, furthermore, the basis for continued professional training toward the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in this field.
Languages Offered by the Department of Linguistics
African Languages (Bamana, Lingala, Swahili, Wolof, and Zulu)
Arabic
Modern Hebrew
Hindi
Sanskrit
Major in Sciences and Letters Curriculum
E-mail: deptling@illinois.edu
Degree title: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences
Minimum major and supporting course work normally equates to 50-52 hours.
General education: The LAS General Education requirements are set up so students automatically complete the Campus General Education requirements.
Minimum hours required for graduation: 120 hours
Departmental distinction: Students are strongly encouraged to fulfill the requirements for completing their program with distinction. Candidates for the degree with distinction must register their candidacy with their advisers no later than the beginning of the second semester of the junior year. They must achieve a grade point average of at least 3.4 for the required 36 hours in linguistics, and register for at least 4 hours of LING 391 - Honors Individual Study, plus submit a senior honors thesis to the Department of Linguistics by the first day of the month preceding the month of graduation.
Students must select one concentration in consultation with an academic adviser.
General Linguistics Concentration
| Hours | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 18 | Major core courses: |
LING 100 - Intro to Language Science |
|
LING 210 - Language History |
|
LING 301 - Elements of Syntax |
|
LING 302 - Elements of Phonology |
|
LING 307 - Elmnts Semantics & Pragmatics |
|
LING 401 - Intro to General Phonetics |
|
| 3 | One course from the following: |
LING 225 - Elements of Psycholinguists |
|
LING 250 - Language in the USA |
|
| 15 | Major electives: 15 hours of Linguistics courses at the 200- to 400-level, chosen in consultation with the student's advisor |
| 8-10 | Students must fulfill the LAS foreign language requirement, and in addition, complete at least 8 hours in a second foreign language. One of these languages must be a non-Western language chosen from the following list or approved in consultation with the student's advisor: Amharic, Arabic, Bamana, Chinese, Coptic, Hebrew, Hindi/Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Lingala, Persian, Quechua, Sanskrit, Swahili, Wolof, Zulu. Courses used to complete this requirement may also be used to meet the requirement of "Courses in linguistically relevant areas," below. |
| 14 | Courses in linguistically relevant areas chosen in consultation with the student's advisor. There are two ways of meeting this requirement: |
A. The courses may come from any of the following disciplines: any foreign language, anthropology, classics, computer science, English, English as an international language, philosophy, psychology, speech and hearing science, speech communication. |
|
B. Students desiring to specialize in the linguistics of a particular language should complete at least four semesters of instruction in that language beyond the elementary level, and a linguistics course or independent study focusing on the selected language or its language family. |
Students must complete 21 hours of coursework at the 300- or 400-level, including at least 12 hours of 300- or 400-level linguistics courses on this campus. These courses may be included in the core courses or electives required above.
Hebrew Language and Linguistics Concentration
This concentration provides the student with a broad knowledge of the Hebrew language, both modern and biblical, as well as with introductory training in general linguistics.
| Hours | Requirements1 |
|---|---|
| 29 | Hebrew language courses, including: |
LING 100 - Intro to Language Science, and two other courses in linguistics |
|
HEBR 405 - Advanced Modern Hebrew I |
|
HEBR 406 - Advanced Modern Hebrew II |
|
HEBR 407 - Topics Mod Hebrew Lang & Lit I |
|
HEBR 408 - Topics Mod Hebrew Lang&Lit II |
|
Biblical Hebrew, select two courses in consultation with the advisor |
|
| 14 | Courses which should constitute a coherent program complementing the major in Hebrew language and linguistics. Possible supporting courses include Jewish culture and society, biblical literature, anthropology, classics, and additional languages. The program of supporting course work will be planned by the student in conjunction with the Hebrew language coordinator. |
| 6-8 | Western Civilization, select from: |
HIST 141 - Western Civ to 1660 (or HIST 140), and |
|
HIST 142 - Western Civ Since 1660 (or HIST 143) |
|
| or | |
CWL 241 - Masterpieces West Culture I, and |
|
CWL 242 - Masterpieces West Culture II |
1. All substitutions must be approved by the coordinator of the concentration.
For All Concentrations:
Twelve hours of 300- or 400-level courses in the major must be taken on this campus.
All foreign language requirements must be satisfied.
A Major Plan of Study Form must be completed and submitted to the LAS Student Affairs Office before the end of the fifth semester (60-75 hours). Please see your adviser.
Minor in Linguistics
The Linguistics Minor is designed for students who seek a basic familiarity with the field and is especially suited for students with majors in foreign language and other language-related fields such as anthropology, bilingual studies, cognitive science, computer science, English, language acquisition, psychology, speech communication, and for anyone interested in the nature of language.
E-mail: deptling@illinois.edu
| Hours | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 3 | LING 100 - Intro to Language Science |
| 6 | Select two of the following: |
LING 301 - Elements of Syntax |
|
LING 302 - Elements of Phonology |
|
LING 307 - Elmnts Semantics & Pragmatics |
|
| 9 | Nine additional hours of linguistics courses, including at least six hours chosen from the following list. Students must take at least six hours of linguistics courses at the advanced level. |
LING 301 - Elements of Syntax (if not chosen for the second requirement above) |
|
LING 302 - Elements of Phonology (if not chosen for the second requirement above) |
|
LING 307 - Elmnts Semantics and Pragmatics (if not chosen for the second requirement above) |
|
LING 210 - Language History |
|
LING 225 - Elements of Psycholinguistics |
|
LING 250 - Language in the USA |
|
LING 400 - Intro to Linguistic Structure |
|
LING 401 - Intro to General Phonetics |
|
LING 406 - Intro to Computational Ling |
|
LING 470 - Mind, Culture and Society |
Minor in Sub-Saharan African Languages
The minor in Sub-Saharan African Languages is designed for students who are interested in developing proficiency in any one of the languages for which there is faculty expertise, as a complement to their disciplinary major. Possible African Languages include: Bamana, Lingala, Swahili, Wolof and Zulu. Completion of the minor requires at least 18 hours.
| Hours | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 6 | Language |
Advanced African Language courses beyond the second year courses chosen in consultation with the minor advisor. Only one African Language can be chosen to fulfill this requirement. |
|
| 6 | African Linguistics |
LING 420-Intro to African Linguistics |
|
LING 412-Lang in African Culture & Soc |
|
Or a similar course at the 300- or 400-level approved by the advisor |
|
| 6 | African Studies (3 hours must be at the 300- or 400-level.) |
One course in the Humanities from the approved course list |
|
| One course in the Social Sciences from the approved course list | |
| 18 | Total |