Linguistics

Return to: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Grace Ford Salvatori 301
(213) 740-2986
FAX: (213) 740-9306
Email: lingdept@dornsife.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/ling
Chair: Andrew Simpson, PhD

Faculty

Andrew Viterbi Professor of Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Linguistics and Psychology: Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan, PhD (Electrical Engineering)

Myron and Marian Casden Director and Professor of Religion and Linguistics: Steve Ross (Religion)

Professors: Dani Byrd, PhD; Louis Goldstein, PhD; Audrey Li, PhD (East Asian Languages and Cultures); Andrew Simpson, PhD; Rachel Walker, PhD; Maria Luisa Zubizarreta, PhD

Associate Professors: Elena Guerzoni, PhD; Hajime Hoji, PhD; Elsi Kaiser, PhD; Toben Mintz, PhD (Psychology); Roumyana Pancheva, PhD; Barry Schein, PhD; Jason Zevin, PhD (Psychology)

Assistant Professors: Khalil Isakrous, PhD; Karen Jesney, PhD

Associate Professor (Teaching): Sandra Disner, PhD

Emeritus Professor: Edward Finegan, PhD*

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Degree Programs

The Linguistics Department offers undergraduate (BA) and graduate (MA and PhD) programs. A wide range of courses allows students to study formal grammar (syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics); phonetics; psycholinguistics (natural language processing, first and second language acquisition, language disorders); sociolinguistics (discourse, quantitative approaches to style, linguistics and law); universals and typology; historical linguistics and Indo-European; East Asian linguistics (Chinese, Japanese, Korean); Germanic linguistics; Hispanic linguistics; Romance linguistics; Semitic linguistics; and Slavic linguistics.

Undergraduate Degrees

The Linguistics Department emphasizes the study of language both as an abstract system and in its psychological and social contexts. In addition to introductory linguistics and courses in linguistic analysis, students take courses in psycholinguistics (language acquisition, processing, and language disorders) and/or sociolinguistics (language and society). The undergraduate major in linguistics focuses on how the human mind structures, processes and acquires language as well as how similar communication goals are met by diverse means in the languages of the world. Students are encouraged to pursue combined majors in Linguistics/Philosophy, Linguistics/Psychology and Linguistics/East Asian Languages and Cultures, as well as double majors with computer science or a language department. Please contact the department adviser for more information.

Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Archaeology

See Religion for a complete listing of requirements.

Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies

See the Department of Middle East Studies for a complete listing of requirements.

Middle East Studies Minor

See the Department of Middle East Studies .

Graduate Degrees

The graduate program in linguistics trains individuals to engage in the scientific study of human language. Course work emphasizes the structural aspects of language and the mechanisms of language change. Students work closely with faculty members on problems in linguistic theory, the description of particular languages, and variation across different users and contexts, focusing on their implications for understanding social and cognitive structures.

Admission Requirements

Applicants for admission to the graduate program are expected to have a bachelor’s degree in linguistics or other appropriate field and knowledge of at least one foreign language. At the least, applicants are expected to have completed an introductory course in general linguistics. Other requirements for admission include: a detailed statement of purpose with specific information about interests and goals, scores from the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), and at least three letters of recommendation from academic sources.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and The Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Foreign Language/Research Tool Requirement

The Foreign Language/Research Tool requirement may be satisfied by choosing from the following options:

(A) Demonstrate a working knowledge of a second language by:

Passing a department internal written translation examination administered by a qualified faculty member, or
Demonstrating native speaker competence in a language other than English.

(B) Demonstrate a working knowledge of statistics and experimental design by passing, with a grade of B or higher, LING 501a (or its equivalent) and a second course, such as LING 501b or its equivalent, where this knowledge is applied to a linguistic research problem.

The prior approval of the Graduate Studies Committee will be required to complete courses other than those listed above.

(C) Demonstrate the ability to use the computer as a research tool by passing, with a grade of B or higher, LING 585 (or its equivalent) or by completing a programming project related to linguistics; this should be equivalent in scope to a term project for a semester course.

The prior approval of the Graduate Studies Committee will be required to complete a course other than the one listed above.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Linguistics (BA)

Combined Major

Minor

Master’s Degree

Linguistics (MA)

Doctoral Degree

Courses

Linguistics

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