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Linguistics
Students of linguistics study the cognitive acquisition, formation, and structure of language. The ways in which language interacts with psychology, sociology, biology, and neuroscience are key elements to a concentration in linguistics.
Emphasis is placed on the development and completion of original research and scholarship in this field. Students may focus on language development, the structure of language, perform cross-cultural comparisons, or relate linguistics to another field of interest such as literature, child studies, or computer science.
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The Nature of Language |
There are more than 6,000 languages in the world, and in many ways they are extraordinarily diverse. Underneath their differences, though, languages resemble each other in fundamental ways. Identifying similarities among the world’s languages leads to a range of other observations about language: spoken and signed languages have deep grammatical similarities, the ways in which very young children might mispronounce words can be predicted, and more. These similarities therefore reveal important truths about how languages are structured. But while languages can be extremely similar, there is a great deal of debate as to whether anything is universally true of all languages. This class will explore similarities among languages (and also the ways in which languages can vary), consider the source of these similarities, and wrestle with questions about true linguistic universals.
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Program in Culture, Brain, and Development (CBD) |
Contact Us
Hampshire College
893 West Street
Amherst, MA 01002
413.559.5378
Fax 413.559.6081
dof@hampshire.edu