Linguistics Program at the University of Virginia
Language is central to virtually all human activity. Indeed, many argue that language was the single most important factor in the differentiation of the human species from other hominids. Linguists study language as a specialized communicative system with its own distinctive principles of structure and patterning. Apart from the traditional subfields of phonology (the patterning of speech sounds), morphology (word-building processes), and syntax (rules of phrase and sentence formation), there are the interdisciplinary research areas with connections to philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and literature. These include semantics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and linguistic anthropology.
A B.A. or M.A. in linguistics permits a student to explore both the independent and interdisciplinary aspects of human language. Courses focus on the analysis of language both at a given point in time and as it changes over time, and cover several modern approaches to data.
Please browse the following sections for information about the Linguistics Program:
If you have questions about the Linguistics Program, please contact Professor Lise Dobrin.
News & Announcements
- Special panel at 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Philadelphia to honor UVa.'s Virginia Hymes. Virginia Hymes is a professor emerita in the UVa Department of Anthropology who continues to participate in Linguistics events. The AAA panel, "Listening to Discourse and Ways of Telling Stories", organized by Alexander King and Eve Danziger, will give testament to Virginia Hymes' profound impact upon several generations of linguistic anthropologists. Her teaching has guided the panelists in research pursuits such as the analysis of discourse strategies and narrative ethnopoetics in the Pacific, the interpretation of the operation of grammatical forms in everyday speech in Native America, and how speaking both shapes and reflects cultural assumptions about personhood. The panel will take place from 4 pm to 7:45 pm on Weds. Dec. 2, in Liberty Ballroom C of the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. All friends of UVa Linguistics, and/or of the work of Dell and Virginia Hymes, are invited to attend.
- Linguistic Anthropology Seminar: The schedule for the fall 2009 Linguistic Anthropology Seminar is now up. The Linguistic Anthropology Seminar is an informal, interdisciplinary venue for presentations of work in progress by faculty, students, and visiting scholars in linguistic anthropology, linguistics, and related fields.