Do You Need to Know a Foreign Language to Major in Linguistics?
Someone asked me this question recently:
Hello! I’m interested in pursuing a degree in Linguistics in the near future. Would you have any advice on the usefulness of knowing a second or third language (and to what degree - how would four years of GCE ‘O’-level German stand)? Did your course focus on English or were you to choose a specific modern language to study (e.g. French)? Thank you!
It really all depends on your university, but I think most university linguistics programs require a degree of proficiency in at least one foreign language. Some require you to go to a certain level in one language, others require a couple languages. Some schools also have stipulations about the languages that you learn (e.g., the main language cannot be an Indo-European language).
For my bachelor’s degree in linguistics (from BYU), the foreign language requirements were like this:
Complete 15 credit hours (to a 200-level or higher) of university-level course work (or the equivalent) in a single foreign language (American Sign Language also qualifies). Students intending to pursue graduate studies in linguistics are strongly encouraged to study a non-Indo-European language. Non-native speakers of English may elect to use English to fill this requirement. [Source]
I ended up taking 8 credits of Chinese (Mandarin) and then had something like 35+ credits of Russian and Ukrainian because I was able to take a proficiency test and get credit for what I already knew.
For variety’s sake, here are the requirements of a couple more schools. Here’s Harvard’s:
Basic concentrators must demonstrate knowledge of one foreign language by the end of junior year. This can be done in the following ways:
[Source]
- by being a native speaker of the language;
- by obtaining at least a B grade in a full-year, second-year language course;
- by passing a Harvard College language placement exam; or
- in some cases, by passing a special departmental reading exam.
And here’s UCLA’s (I know the page is old, but I couldn’t find the requirements on any newer page):
[Students must complete] the equivalent of the sixth term of one foreign language and the third term of a second foreign language. You are required to complete at least the equivalent of the third term in a language other than those in the Romance, Slavic, or Germanic families. [Source]
It’s worth noting that if you’re a native English speaker and want to study the English language, some schools have an English language degree. Mine did. This degree studies the English language itself, as opposed to an English degree, which studies English literature. A fair number of the English language major requirements overlapped with the linguistics major requirements.
If students at other universities want to send me their school’s requirements, I can collect them and put them in a followup post. Or if you have any further questions, ask away.
Hundreds of company name etymologies
Very cool Wikipedia stating the origins behind hundreds of companies’ names.
The original pronunciation of words in Shakespeare’s works. Fascinating.
Urban Dictionary: Herro
Definition: The standard greeting of Engrish, as in, “Herro! How are you?”
List of the longest monosyllabic English words
The longest one-syllable word is 12 letters long!
Linguistics Micro Lesson: Tautology
Tautology is the unnecessary or unessential (and sometimes unintentional) repetition of meaning, using different words that effectively just say the same thing.
Examples:
- added bonus - “bonus” is an added extra, so “added bonus” is actually “added added extra”
- first introduced - “introduced” generally implies that it is the first time that someone or something has been presented
- free gift - “gift” is, by definition, something given without charge
- new innovation - “innovation” is defined as something new
- safe haven - “haven” is, by definition, a place of refuge and safety
- pre-book - “book” already contains the idea of reserving in advance, so “pre-” is redundant
What does “et cetera” literally mean?
Good to know: The literal meaning of the Latin phrase et cetera is “and the others.”
Linguistics Micro Lesson: Cognates, False Friends, and False Cognates
Cognates are words that sound similar in different languages, come from the same source or root word historically somewhere back down the line, and have the same meaning.
They can range from essentially the same word just pronounced with a foreign accent (English idea vs. Spanish idea; the words come from the older Latin and Greek words) to words that have slightly different appearances but still are recognizable if you have knowledge of the phonology (sound systems) of the foreign language, like the English school and the Russian shkola (школа).
You should be aware of false friends, too. These are words in different languages that look or sound similar but in fact do NOT mean the same thing. English’s fabric and Spanish’s fábrica are an example of this; the Spanish word actually means “factory.”
And finally, neither of these is to be confused with false cognates. To make matters more perplexing, false friends are actually often called false cognates, but this is technically incorrect. False cognates differ from cognates in just one way: the words are actually not derived from the same root word historically. So they’re still words that have the same meaning and sound about the same in both languages, except that they’re not historically related. It’s just a coincidence.
Examples of this are English’s fee with Chinese’s fei, English’s verb to occur and Japanese’s ocoru, and English’s dog with Mbabaram’s (that’s an Australian Aboriginal language) dog. Weird, huh?
Are you confused yet?
Linguistics Micro Lesson: Prescriptive Grammar vs. Descriptive Grammar
In linguistics we often focus on descriptive grammar. This means that we describe how language is actually used by people when speaking or writing. Think of it as someone listening to people speak at a cafe and taking notes on how they say things.
This contrasts with prescriptive grammar that states how a language “should” be spoken or written. This is what most of us think of when we hear the word “grammar.” Think of it as English class lessons when you were in grade school.
Here’s an example of the same basic sentence as you’d see it in descriptive and prescriptive grammars:
- Descriptive: Who are you going to invite to the party? (This is what people actually say)
- Prescriptive: Whom are you going to invite to the party? (This is what people “should” say)
The mere fact that a sentence is long does not make it a run-on sentence; sentences are run-ons only when they lack proper separation between independent clauses, so the writer who is vigilant in the use of appropriate punctuation and sentence construction will violate no usage rule limiting the number of independent clauses that may be assembled in a single sentence, though stylistic concerns and a desire not to emulate the excesses of Edward Bulwer-Lytton and other profligate wordsmiths may suggest a certain prudence and counsel a sensible limitation of verbiage within the span of two periods, such as is not evidenced in this overlong, but nonetheless technically correct and run-on-free sentence.
