Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of the human language faculty. The department offers two undergraduate programs in linguistics and a minor.

All of the professors in the Linguistics department promoted the importance of the investigation itself and I found mentors in them all. There was a quality to my education that I don’t think is widely available.

Michael Barkey
BA Honours Linguistics, 2007

Teaching and research in the Linguistics programs focus on two areas: generative linguistics as a branch of cognitive science, encompassing fields such as syntax, phonology and language acquisition; and the nature of language change, with particular emphasis on the Indo-European language family.

Linguistics courses introduce students to the scientific investigation of the phenomena of language in general, as well as to in-depth analysis of particular languages. Methods of inquiry taught in linguistics courses include elicitation fieldwork with native-speaker informants, computer analysis of speech, philological approaches to ancient texts, theoretical modeling, and experimental design and implementation.

Linguistics training provides transportable skills in problem-solving and critical thinking, computer use, writing and close reading of scholarly literature. This experience prepares students for immediate employment in a variety of fields, as well as for graduate study. Concordia linguistics graduates are regularly accepted with funding into top international graduate programs in linguistics, as well as into programs in speech pathology, law, cognitive science and other fields.

About the BA Programs

The 60-credit BA Honours in Linguistics and 42-credit BA Major in Linguistics programs are varied and diverse, ranging from topics of a broad philosophical, sociological and historical nature to the minutely detailed analysis of specific data.

The programs endeavor to strengthen and refine students' intellectual skills through in-depth training in the writing of grammars and formulation of rules and by introducing them to the rich tradition of linguistic scholarship, encouraging their participation both in current theoretical controversies as well as in the critical examination and discussion of acknowledged masters of linguistic thought.

The Honours program in Linguistics in particular is designed to provide our students with a thorough foundation for graduate study. Areas of emphasis are accordingly the standard subfields of the discipline: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, typology, field work, etc. The interaction of theoretical courses, data-oriented courses and courses in historical and comparative linguistics (both Indo-European and non- Indo-European) forms a diverse and substantial foundation for the exceptional student who hopes to do graduate work in comparative Indo-European or in any other area of linguistics.

Minors

There is also a 24-credit Minor in Linguistics.