Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguists investigate speech sounds, grammatical structures, meaning, and more across the world's languages.
Linguistics is the study of how language works—everything from how we produce sounds to where new words and languages come from. This degree provides a solid foundation in all areas of language research and prepares you for graduate studies or a career in a language-related field.
Study the ins and outs of the English language and apply that knowledge in one of four tracks. Learn to teach English to speakers of other languages, master computer tools for interacting with language, study the relationship between language and culture, or dive into historical English language and literature.
Become an expert on English grammar and style and master the science and art of crafting language as you take books, magazines, and other media from unpolished manuscripts to published products.
Get a master’s degree in the study of language with a focus on corpus linguistics and computing, language acquisition, language in society, or general linguistics. This program prepares you for professional work in linguistics or for going on to a PhD.
This master’s program enables you to work with colleges, companies, and communities to teach, design curriculum for, assess, and administrate the teaching of English to speakers of other languages. Get hands-on experience in all these areas as you prepare for a professional TESOL career or further education.
A great minor for students in a language major or anyone interested in how language works. Learn about the sounds of the world’s languages, theories of language structure, the roles of language in culture and society, and more.
Ever wondered how your phone assistant understands what you say, how translation software works, or whether artificial intelligences will ever be able to learn human language? Explore the fascinating intersection of language and computing, and master digital tools for studying and processing spoken and written language.
Take your writing skills to the next level with classes on grammar, usage, and editing, and get experience editing, typesetting, and publishing books, journals, and magazines. This minor is a fantastic résumé booster for anyone going into a field involving writing, editing, publishing, or research.
Learn to teach English to adult speakers of other languages as you work toward an internationally recognized TESOL certificate. You’ll learn strategies for teaching in the classroom and get in-person, mentored teaching experience at BYU’s English Language Center.
Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to study, mainly because it uses thousands of characters. However, research shows that breaking characters into bite-sized pieces—known as radicals—may help.
NPR recently highlighted linguistics professor Dallin D. Oaks’s research on Utah name trends—something he believes is impacted by both politics and nature.
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"I feel that it can safely be said that using language is indeed miraculous. I truly believe that if language did not exist and someone proposed it, it would be dismissed as an impossibility."
