Linguistics is the study of human language: how we use languages to communicate, how languages vary and change over time, how meanings are expressed, how children and adults acquire language, and how communication differs across communities. In this major, you will learn about branches of linguistics, including sound systems (phonetics and phonology), word and sentence structure (morphology and syntax), conversation and text structure (discourse), meaning (semantics), language use in society (sociolinguistics), language in education, health care and the law. You will carry out detailed analysis of linguistic data from a variety of languages, with a particular emphasis on the Indigenous languages of Australia and the Pacific region. The study of human language blends both scientific and humanistic approaches to building knowledge, and you will experience a wide range of analytic methods and theories. As language assumes ever greater importance in an interconnected, multilingual world, while remaining one of the last enigmatic frontiers for fields like natural language processing, the study of linguistics is relevant to an ever-wider range of career options.
Learning Outcomes
- demonstrate a depth and breadth of insight into the relationship between language, society and culture, and into the role of language in human sociality;
- carry out analysis of the linguistic systems of diverse languages, including the capacity for rigorous, in-depth analysis in at least two sub-disciplines of linguistics;
- use a range of linguistic methods, tools and theories to investigate how language is used in different contexts, and how it varies across people, places and times;
- critically examine beliefs and ideologies about language use and language diversity;
- communicate clearly and knowledgeably about language-related topics to academic and general audiences; and
- engage with languages and perspectives relating to the Indigenous peoples of Australia and the Asia-Pacific.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
The Linguistics Major requires the completion of 48 units, of which:
A maximum of 12 units may come from the completion of 1000-level courses
A minimum of 18 units must come from completion of 3000-level courses
The 48 units must consist of:
12 units from completion of the following courses:
LING1001 - Language Unlocked: An introduction to Linguistics
LING1002 - The Social Life of Language
A minimum of 12 units from the completion of the following 2000-level Linguistics courses:
LING2003 Grammar of the World's Languages
LING2008 Semantics
LING2010 Sounds of the World's Languages: Phonetics and Phonology
LING2016 Language and Society in Indigenous Australia
LING2020 Structure of English
A minimum of 18 units from completion of the following 3000-level Linguistics courses:
LING3031 Papuan Languages
LING3032 Forensic Linguistics: Forensic Voice and Text Comparison
LING3035 Semantic Typology
LING3036 Advanced Sociolinguistics
LING3038 Corpus Linguistics
LING3101 Second Language Acquisition
LING3126 Topics in Advanced Syntax and Morphology
A maximum of 6 units from the completion of the following Linguistics disciplinary courses:
Linguistics
ASIA2001 Language in Asia and the Pacific
ASIA2308 Linguistic Histories in Asia and the Pacific
LING2005 Language Across Time
LING2018 Languages in Contact
LING2021 Cross Cultural Communication
LING3025 Special Topics in Linguistics
Applied Linguistics
LING2013 Teaching Languages
LING2015 Language, Culture, Translation
LING2023 Dictionaries and Dictionary-Making
LING2029 Language, Assessment and Policy
LING2034 Communication in Health Care
LING2105 Forensic Linguistics: Language and the Law
LING2106 Language and Social Interaction
LING2521 Child Language Acquisition
Language-Specific Linguistics
LANG3007 Romance Linguistics
LING2017 Chinese Linguistics
LING2028 Japanese Linguistics
LING2040 Austronesian languages
Indigenous Australian Languages
INDG2003 Gamilaraay: Introduction to an Australian Indigenous Language
INDG2004 Continuing Gamilaraay
Other languages
ASIA2103 Language in Asia and the Pacific
FREN3515 The Sounds of French: Phonetics and Pronunciation
JPNS2024 Japanese Grammar and Expressions
JPNS3012 Teaching Japanese: Content
SPAN3031 Advanced Spanish Topics in Language and Linguistics
6 units from completion of the following course(s):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LING1001 | Language Unlocked: An Introduction to Linguistics | 6 |
A maximum of 12 units may come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LING1002 | The Social Life of Language | 6 |
| LING 1021: Cross-Cultural Comm | ||
| AUST 1001: Australian Indigenous Language |
A minimum of 12 units must come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LING2003 | Grammar of the World's Languages | 6 |
| LING2008 | Semantics | 6 |
| LING2010 | Sounds of the World's Languages: Phonetics and Phonology | 6 |
A minimum of 24 units must come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ASIA2001 | Language in Asia and the Pacific | 6 |
| ASIA2103 | Language in Asia and the Pacific (L) | 6 |
| GERM 2110: Structure of German | ||
| GERM 2048: Spoken Interaction in German | ||
| GERM 3048: Spoken Interact in Germ | ||
| INDN 2101: Linguistic Aspects-Indonesian | ||
| ITAL 3018: Italiano Standard e Reg | ||
| LING2028 | Japanese Linguistics | 6 |
| JPNS 2009: Japanese Lexicon | ||
| JPNS 2019: Japenese Phonetics & Phonology | ||
| JPNS2024 | Japanese Grammar and Expressions | 6 |
| JPNS 3011: Lang Variation & Change: Japan | ||
| LANG 2103: Second Language Pragmatics | ||
| LANG 3001: Translation: Lit Texts | ||
| LANG 3002: Translation: Spec Mat | ||
| LANG 3004: Lang & Soc in Latin America | ||
| LANG 3005: Lang and Ident Eur Cont | ||
| LING2003 | Grammar of the World's Languages | 6 |
| LING2005 | Language Across Time | 6 |
| LING 2007: Morphology | ||
| LING2008 | Semantics | 6 |
| LING3012 | Field Methods in Linguistics | 6 |
| LING2010 | Sounds of the World's Languages: Phonetics and Phonology | 6 |
| LING2013 | Teaching Languages | 6 |
| LING2015 | Language, Culture and Translation | 6 |
| LING2016 | Language and Society in Indigenous Australia | 6 |
| LING2017 | Chinese Linguistics | 6 |
| LING2018 | Languages in Contact | 6 |
| LING 2019: Phonological Analysis | ||
| LING2020 | Structure of English | 6 |
| LING2021 | Cross Cultural Communication | 6 |
| LING 2022: Language Policy | ||
| LING2023 | Dictionaries and Dictionary-Making | 6 |
| LING 2026: Syntactic Theory | ||
| LING 2027: Lang & Soc in Latin America | ||
| LING 2101: Second Language Acqn | ||
| LING 2103: Language Power & Identity | ||
| LING 2104: History of English | ||
| LING2105 | Forensic Linguistics: Language and the Law | 6 |
| LING2106 | Language and Social Interaction | 6 |
| LING 3005: Acoustics of Voice | ||
| LING 3008: Study Language Family | ||
| LING 3021: Child Language Acquistn | ||
| LING 3022: Seminar on Semantics | ||
| LING3025 | Special Topics in Linguistics | 6 |
| PASI 2010: Talking the Pacific | ||
| PASI 2020: Languages of the Pacific | ||
| PHIL 2016: Philos of Language | ||
| PHIL 2080: Logic | ||
| SPAN 2601: The Sounds of Spanish | ||
| SPAN 2602: The Structure of Spanish | ||
| SPAN 2603: History of Spanish | ||
| SPAN 2604: Multilingualism: the Americas | ||
| SPAN 3031: Adv Spanish Lang & Linguistics |