Carnegie Mellon University, BA, Linguistics

Linguistics is the study of human language, and it encompasses a broad spectrum of research questions, approaches and methodologies. Some linguists are concerned with the cognitive aspects of language learning, production and comprehension; some are concerned with language as a social and cultural phenomenon; others engage in the analysis of linguistic form and meaning, some from a functional and others from a formal perspective. There are also computational approaches to linguistics with both applied and theoretical goals. The major in Linguistics reflects the multidisciplinary character of the field and of the Linguistics faculty here at Carnegie Mellon, offering a program which provides students with the fundamental tools of linguistic analysis while maintaining a focus on the human context in which language is learned and used. The major is available as either a primary major or an additional major. It is an ideal choice for students with a general interest in their own or other languages, and combines well thematically with studies in any of the departments represented in the major.