Mar 30, 2025  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Linguistics BA

Speaking. Signing. Understanding. It’s all part of linguistics, a program designed for people who love words and languages -and want to use science to study how we communicate with each other. For example, are you curious why “the small brown dog” sounds right, but “the brown small dog” sounds wrong? Find out at UB, where you can also choose to specialize in some of the world’s most widely spoken languages, like Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Visit the Linguistics academic program page for more information about the academic experience, who you will learn from, opportunities outside of class and what you can do with this degree.

Visit the Linguistics department page  for contact information, a brief overview of the department and the curricular options.

Admission Criteria

Current UB students seeking admission to the Linguistics BA will be added to the major upon request by completing the College of Arts and Sciences Major/Minor Change Request Form.

Course Requirements

Linguistics Core (9 credits)

One Culture and Meaning course (3 credits)

One Structure of Language course (3 credits)

Seven LIN Electives (21 credits)

At least four courses (12 credits) must be 300/400 level. LIN 496TUT - Internship  may count only once, for 3 credits.

Total Credits Required for Major: 36

Additional Degree Requirements Include:

  • Additional coursework to fulfill UB Curriculum requirements
  • Elective courses as needed to complete the 120 credit hour total

Total Credits Required for Graduation: 120

Total Credit Hours Required represents the minimum credits needed to complete this program, and may vary based on a number of circumstances. This should not be used for financial aid purposes.

Notes

UB Seminar courses cannot count towards major requirements.

Academic Requirements

Minimum GPA of 2.000 in the major.
 

Program Honors

Students who wish to be considered for Honors must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the major and complete three credits of LIN 497  with a letter grade of B or higher. LIN 497  must be taken under the supervision of a faculty advisor and the completion of a major research paper or project is required. Students must also meet the remaining criteria outlined in the Academic Honors policy.

Program Distinction

A student in this major is eligible for Program Distinction upon degree conferral if the criteria are met. Criteria are found under Academic Honors in the Policy and Procedure section of this Catalog. Program Distinction is noted on the official transcript.

Curricular Plan

A Curricular Plan provides a roadmap for completing this academic program and the UB Curriculum on time. Your actual plan may vary depending on point of entry to the university, course placement and/or waivers based on standardized test scores, earned alternative credit and/or college transfer credit.

YEAR 1

Fall Semester

  • UB Seminar Credits: 3
  • Math & Quantitative Reasoning Credits: 4
  • Scientific Literacy 2 Credits: 3
  • Scientific Lab Credits: 1
  • ENG 105LEC - Writing and Rhetoric Credits: 4   OR Pathway Credits: 3
    Total Credits: 14 or 15

Spring Semester

YEAR 2

Fall Semester

Spring Semester

YEAR 3

Fall Semester

Spring Semester

YEAR 4

Fall Semester

Spring Semester​

TOTAL CREDITS REQUIRED: 120

Note: Some classes may count toward both a major and UB Curriculum requirement.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of all requirements, the student will:

  • Students will demonstrate a beginner-level understanding of the basic concepts associated with phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics and also apply basic analytical methods from each of these domains to analyze linguistic data.
  • Students will demonstrate an intermediate-level understanding of key concepts in the study of sound systems and methods of phonetic and phonological analysis. Students will apply these methods and concepts to produce and transcribe speech sounds and analyze sound systems.
  • Students will demonstrate an intermediate-level understanding of key concepts in the study of word and sentence structure and methods of morphological and syntactic analysis. Students will apply these methods and concepts to analyze word and sentence structure.
  • Students will identify ways that different kinds of meaning are encoded linguistically and apply multiple methods for analyzing meaning from a major subfield of linguistics such as semantics, sociolinguistics, or linguistic anthropology.
  • Students will apply tools from several domains of linguistic analysis to understand and analyze the linguistic patterns of a specific language.

 

(HEGIS: 15.05 LINGUISTICS, CIP: 16.0102 Linguistics)

 

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