NOTE: The following Linguistics Major requirements apply to students who first enrolled at OSU before AU22. Students who first enrolled at OSU in AU22 or later should click here to see the requirements that apply to them.
Major Advisor
Linguistics Undergraduate Advisor
Dr. Liz McCullough
mccullough.136@osu.edu
614-688-3109
106 Oxley Hall, 1712 Neil Avenue
Office Hours
Monday 1:00-3:00pm, Thursday 9:15-11:15am, or by appointment
Office hours may be attended in person or via Zoom. Please email for a Zoom link.
Programs of Study for Undergraduates
There are two tracks in this major: Track A and Track B. Students are advised to complete one of these based on their academic goals and interests. The chosen track is not listed on students’ transcripts or diplomas. Each track will lead to a BA in Linguistics. Track A is designed to give students familiarity with a broad range of subject areas in linguistics. Track B is particularly appropriate for students interested in research who plan to write a BA thesis and/or go on to graduate school. In addition to these two tracks, undergraduates have the option of working with the major advisor to design a variant tailored to their particular interests. The Linguistics Major requires successful completion (with a grade of C- or higher) of 30 credit hours for Track A and 33 credit hours for Track B, excluding prerequisites.
Track A (at least 30 credit hours, excluding prerequisites)
- Prerequisite Course Work (6 credits)
These courses do not count toward the minimum number of hours required in the major. Only the introductory course must be completed before starting the major.- Introductory Linguistics Course: Ling 2000 or 2000H
- Language Requirement (3 credits). One of the following:
- Advanced world language beyond the GE requirement (taught in the language)
- A second, not closely related language at any level (taught in the language), with permission
- Field Methods: Ling 4550 or 5551
- A course on the linguistic structure of a non-English language or language family at the 4000-level or above (e.g. East European 5627, Korean 5380, Sanskrit 5902, Spanish 4430), with permission
- Major Core Courses (18 credits)
- Core Courses. Four required courses chosen from the following, and in any order:
- Phonetics: Ling 4100
- Syntax: Ling 4200
- Phonology: Ling 4300
- Morphology: Ling 4350
- Linguistic Meaning: Ling 4400
- Elective Core Courses. Choose one course each from two different areas:
- Historical Linguistics: Ling 3901 or 5901
- Sociolinguistics: Ling 3601, 3602, 3602H, 3603, or 5601
- Psycholinguistics: Ling 3701, 3701H, 5701, or 5702
- Field Methods: Ling 4550 or 5551 (may be used concurrently to satisfy the language prerequisite)
- Core Courses. Four required courses chosen from the following, and in any order:
- Major Elective Courses (12 credits)
Any four Linguistics courses at the 2000-level or above that are not used to satisfy other requirements of the major. Courses on linguistic topics offered by other departments at the 2000-level or above may also be counted as electives with permission.
Up to 3 credit hours of independent study (Ling 3191, 4998, 4998H, 4999, 4999H) may be counted towards the elective requirement.
Possible electives are listed below by subarea of linguistics. Electives need not be from the same subarea. See the complete listing and description of linguistics courses.
- Historical Linguistics and Language Contact
- Language Evolution and Language Change: 3901
- Language Endangerment and Language Death: 3902
- Languages in Contact: 5651
- Introduction to Historical Linguistics: 5901
- Topics in Indo-Iranian Linguistics: 5906
- Sociolinguistics and Anthropological Linguistics
- Language, Sex and Gender in American Culture: 2367.01, 2367.01H
- Language, Race & Ethnicity in the U.S.: 3601
- Languages and Social Identity in the U.S.: 3602, 3602H
- Language across Cultures: 3603
- Introduction to Sociolinguistics: 5601
- Introduction to Quantitative Sociolinguistics: 5602
- Sociolinguistic Field Methods: 5603
- Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Science
- Language and the Mind: 3701, 3701H
- Introduction to Cognitive Science: 5612 (also as Psych 5612, Philos 5830, CSE 5531)
- Psycholinguistics I: 5701
- Cognitive Models of Language: 5702
- Eye Tracking Methods for Psycholinguistics: 5703
- Proseminar in Cognitive Science: 5891 (also as CSE 5891, ISE 5891, Philos 5891, Psych 5891)
- Computational Linguistics
- Codes and Codebreaking: 3801
- Language and Computers: 3802, 3802H
- Ethics of Language Technology: 3803
- Technical Tools for Linguists: 5050
- Cognitive Models of Language: 5702
- Computational Linguistics I: 5801
- Computational Linguistics II: 5802
- Computational Semantics: 5803
- Language Description and Field Methods
- Introduction to American Indigenous Languages: 3501
- Klingon, Elvish, Dothraki: The Linguistics of Constructed Languages: 3502
- Introduction to Linguistic Field Methods: 4550
- Language Description: 5500
- Field Methods I: 5551
- Field Methods II: 5552
- Topics in Indo-Iranian Linguistics: 5906
- Formal Logic and Quantitative Methods
- Language and Formal Reasoning: 2001
- Analyzing the Sounds of Language: 2051, 2051H
- Linguistics and the Scientific Method: 4052
- Technical Tools for Linguists: 5050
- Quantitative Methods: 5051
- Introduction to Quantitative Sociolinguistics: 5602
- Research and Experiential Learning
- Internship in Linguistics: 3191
- Undergraduate Research Seminar: 4780
- Undergraduate Research (non-thesis): 4998, 4998H
- Undergraduate Thesis Research: 4999, 4999H
- Training in Informal Science Outreach: 5700
- Phonetics
- Phonetics: 4100
- Phonetic Theory: 5101
- Laboratory Phonology: 5102
- Syntax
- Syntax: 4200
- Syntactic Theory I: 5201
- Syntactic Theory II: 5202
- Phonology
- Phonology: 4300
- Phonological Theory I: 5301
- Topics in Advanced Phonology: 5302
- Morphology
- Words and Meanings: 3401
- Morphology: 4350
- Morphological Theory: 5351
- Semantics and Pragmatics
- Language and Advertising: 2367.02
- Words and Meanings: 3401
- Linguistic Meaning: 4400
- Semantic Theory I: 5401
- Semantic Theory II: 5402
- Formal Pragmatics: 5451
Track B (at least 33 credits, excluding prerequisites)
- Prerequisite Course Work (9 credits)
These courses do not count toward the minimum number of hours required in the major. Only the introductory course must be completed before starting the major.- Introduction to Linguistics: Ling 2000 or 2000H
- Language Requirement (3 credits). One of the following:
- Advanced world language beyond the GE requirement (taught in the language)
- A second not closely related language at any level (taught in the language), with permission
- Field Methods: Linguistics 4550 or 5551
- A course on the linguistic structure of a non-English language or language family at the 4000-level or above (e.g. East European 5627, Korean 5380, Sanskrit 5902, Spanish 4430), with permission
- Analytic Prerequisite (3 credits). One of the following:
- Language and Formal Reasoning: Ling 2001
- Analyzing the Sounds of Language: Ling 2051, 2051H
- Introduction to Symbolic Logic: Philosophy 2500
- Introduction to Discrete Mathematics: Mathematics 2366
- Elementary Statistics: Statistics 1350
- Introduction to the Practice of Statistics: Statistics 1450
- Data Analysis in Psychology: Psychology 2220, 2220H
- Major Core Courses (18 credits)
- Core Courses. Four courses chosen from the following, and taken in any order:
- Phonetics: Ling 4100
- Syntax: Ling 4200
- Phonology: Ling 4300
- Morphology: Ling 4350
- Linguistic Meaning: Ling 4400
- Elective Core Courses. Choose one course each from two different areas:
- Historical Linguistics: Ling 3901 or 5901
- Sociolinguistics: Ling 3601, 3602, 3602H, 3603, or 5601
- Psycholinguistics: Ling 3701, 3701H, 5701, or 5702
- Field Methods: Ling 4550 or 5551 (may be used concurrently to satisfy the language prerequisite)
- Core Courses. Four courses chosen from the following, and taken in any order:
- Undergraduate Research Seminar: Ling 4780 (3 credits)
This course should be taken at least one year before graduation and at least one Core Course (Ling 4100, 4200, 4300, 4350, 4400) must be completed prior to taking it.
- Two-course Sequence (6 credits)
Other sequences can be selected with approval from the student’s linguistics advisor. These courses cannot be used to concurrently satisfy other requirements of the major.- Computational Linguistics: Ling 5801, 5802
- Psycholinguistics (two of these): Ling 3701 (or 3701H), 5701, 5702
- Sociolinguistics: Ling 5601, 5602
- Field Methods (two of these): Ling 4550, 5551, 5552
- Historical linguistics: Ling 3901, 5901
- Phonetics: Ling 5101, 5102
- Phonology: Ling 5301, 5302
- Semantics and Syntax: Ling 5401, 5201
- Semantics and Pragmatics (two of these): Ling 5401, 5402, 5451
- Syntax and Morphology (two of these): Ling 5201, 5202, 5351
- Major Elective Courses (6 credits)
Any two Linguistics courses at the 2000-level or above that are not used to satisfy other requirements of the major. Courses on linguistic topics offered by other departments at the 2000-level or above may also be counted as electives with permission.
Up to 3 credit hours of independent study (Ling 3191, 4998, 4998H, 4999, 4999H) may be counted towards the elective requirement.
For the list of possible elective courses organized by subarea of linguistics, see Track A above. Electives need not be from the same subarea. See the complete listing and description of linguistics courses.