Rice Unconventional Wisdom

Department of LinguisticsDepartment of Linguistics header image

These requirements are in effect as of 2006-2007. When preparing for graduation, students should be aware that they must choose either the requirements listed in the General Announcements for the year in which they matriculated, or the requirements as listed in the General Announcements for the year in which they will graduate.
 

Overview of the Major

Because human language is a multifaceted object of study, Linguistics is, by its nature, an interdisciplinary field. The undergraduate major provides both an in-depth grounding in the field as well as cross-disciplinary breadth. Students beginning a Linguistics major should take LING 200, which is a prerequisite for many upper-level courses in the department. All majors are required to take at least 9 courses (27 semester hours) in Linguistics at the 300 level or above, including 5 core courses as specified below (or otherwise listed in a particular concentration).

Core Courses

  • LING 300 Linguistic Analysis
  • LING 301 Phonetics
  • LING 304 Introduction to Syntax or LING 311 Phonology
  • LING 305 Historical Linguistics, LING 315 Introduction to Semantics, or LING 416 Language Universals and Typology
  • LING 415 Sociolinguistics or LING 405 Discourse

In addition, competency in 1 language other than English is required. This requirement may be satisfied by 2 courses in a foreign language at the 200 level or above or equivalent. No more than one independent study course may be counted toward the major requirements.

Students may elect either a general Linguistics major or one of 5 areas of concentration. Options in the list of core courses that are not used as core courses can count as electives for the general major or for concentrations.

The general Linguistics major requires, in addition to 5 core courses and the language requirement, at least 4 advanced Linguistics electives (300 level or above).

Majors who plan to pursue graduate training in Linguistics are recommended to choose one of the areas of concentration listed. These students are also urged to apply for admission to the Honors Program by the end of their junior year. The requirements for the various concentrations that include additional courses can be found on the following pages.