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Major & Minor
We offer degrees in Linguistics as well as many research opportunities for undergraduates
Graduate Studies
Learn about our cross-disciplinary PhD program and our three Master's programs.
Research
Our research investigates the structure, complexity and diversity of human languages.
Feature Story
Jeremy Coburn, Visiting Assistant Professor, contributed to a National Geographic docuseries
We’re excited to share that Jeremy Coburn, Visiting Assistant Professor, contributed his linguistic expertise to a National Geographic docuseries, Superskilled with Eva zu Beck.
Continue ReadingUpcoming Events and Meetings
- Incoming Graduate Student Orientation
August 22 - Colloquium Title TBA
Colin Phillipps, University of Oxford
September 5 - Colloquium Title TBA
Larry Hyman, UC Berkeley
September 12
What's Linguistics?
The field of linguistics explores the nature of languages, seeking to describe what human languages are like, how languages develop and change, and how people learn and use language. Unlike courses in a language, where the point is to gain an automatic, unconscious ability to use the language, courses in linguistics attempt to develop a fully explicit, scientific theory of how language works. Linguistics thus offers a unique combination of humanistic and scientific concerns.
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Featured Courses - Fall 2025
Check out some of our featured courses for the upcoming Fall 2025 semester. For a full and updated list of Linguistics courses, explore our course catalog.
LING 215/415 Languages of Africa
About 2,000 of the world’s 7,000 languages are spoken in Africa. The diversity that characterizes these languages is exceptional, but little known to non-specialists. In this course, we will learn about the languages of Africa: the diversity of their linguistic structures...
Explore Linguistics Courses
LING 214/414 Statistical Methods in Linguistics
This course provides an introduction to probability and statistics for linguistics, serving as an essential foundation for linguistics students who aim to analyze experimental and corpus linguistic data. Topics include (i) elementary probability theory...
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LING 237/437 Phonology
This course introduces students to the core principles and analytical tools of phonology—the study of how speech sounds are organized in human language. Through examination of diverse phonological patterns from a typologically broad set of languages, students will explore the most active and exciting areas of research in...
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Center for Languages Sciences
The Center for Language Sciences (CLS) is an organization at the University of Rochester that brings together faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who conduct research on any aspect of human language as a vehicle for active interdisciplinary work.
CLS fosters research and activities that reach across a very broad group of disciplines covering a wide research focus and range of interests. It's a continually evolving organization with a history of serving as a platform for training students and postdocs in interdisciplinary research and enhancing collaborations among members.
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Get in Touch
For more information about the Department of Linguistics, our programs, our research, or our courses, send us an email.