Linguistics (ScB)

About this programme

Language is a uniquely human capacity that enables us to communicate a limitless set of messages on any topic. While human languages can differ greatly in certain respects, all are intricate, complex, rule-governed systems. Linguistics is the scientific study of these systems, their use for communication in rich social settings, and their cognitive underpinnings. The linguistics concentration at Brown introduces students with the basic concepts in linguistics that are necessary to describe human languages and theorize about them: how sound is organized in language, how sounds and gestures combine to form meaningful units, and how language is used for communication. It encourages students to acquire an appreciation of the different kinds of variation in human languages: what is common to different languages, how languages can differ from one another, and how speech communities and individuals vary in their use of language. It familiarizes students with a wide variety of topics in linguistics, including psycholinguistics, language change, language and society, computational approaches to language, and philosophy of language. Furthermore, the concentration lets students acquire hands-on experience in understanding and solving open-ended questions in linguistics, which would include comparing the merits of competing theoretical approaches, and teaches them how to communicate linguistic arguments effectively in writing and in presentations.