Linguistics

About Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Topics covered at McGill University include: the structure of the world’s languages at the level of sounds (phonetics and phonology), words (morphology), sentences (syntax), and meaning (semantics); how people learn languages (acquisition); how people use two languages (bilingualism); how to model and process linguistic data using computational methods (computational linguistics); how languages change over time (historical linguistics); and how languages vary in relation to region and social identity (dialectology and sociolinguistics). In addition to preparing students for advanced academic work in linguistics and related disciplines (e.g., anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, or psychology), courses in linguistics provide a useful background for many careers, for example, language teaching, translation, child psychology, speech-language pathology, communication, and speech technology.

The Linguistics department offers a minor concentration, a major concentration, an honours program, and a joint honours program with other departments in the Faculty of Arts.

Requirements

Linguistics students must do at least two-thirds of their Linguistics courses at McGill. Honours students must also do their Honours thesis at McGill.

Available Programs

Linguistics Related Programs

Minor in Cognitive Science

Students following major or honours programs in Linguistics with an interest in cognition may want to consider the Minor in Cognitive Science. For more information, refer to the Cognitive Science page. 

Location

Faculty of Arts
Department of Linguistics
1085 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Room 111
Montreal QC H3A 1A7
Telephone: 514-398-4222
Website: mcgill.ca/linguistics

Advising

Visit our Departmental office or the Department's website.