UCSD Undergraduate Linguistics Courses

Quick links to course websites:

LIGN 4	LIGN 7	LIGN 17	LIGN 104	LIGN 105
LIGN 110	LIGN 111	LIGN 120	LIGN 170	LIGN 171
LIGN 172	LIGN 174	LIGN 175	LIGN 179

Course	Description	Comments
LIGN 3 Language as a Social & Cultural Phenomenon	Introduction to the study of language: language variation, change, and loss; multilingualism, pidginization, and creolization; language planning, standardization, and prescriptivism; writing systems; the role of language in thought, myth, ritual, advertising, politics, and the law.	With 2 of LIGN 4, 7, and 8: satisfies Muir Social Sciences Requirement. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirement.
LIGN 4 Language as a Cognitive System	Introduction to the study of language: differences between animal communication, sign systems, and human language; origins and evolution of language; neural basis of language; language acquisition in children and adults; fundamental issues in language and cognition.	With 2 of LIGN 3, 7, and 8: satisfies Muir Social Sciences Requirement. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirement.
LIGN 7 Sign Language & Its Culture	Deaf history since the eighteenth century. The structure of American Sign Language and comparison with oral languages. ASL poetry and narrative and Deaf people's system of cultural knowledge. Basic questions concerning the nature of language and its relation to culture.	Satisfies: Muir cultural diversity requirement, Revelle American cultures requirement, Warren cultural diversity requirement. Counts toward Sixth College breadth requirement, Marshall disciplinary breadth requirement, ERC regional specialization requirement. With 2 of LIGN 3, 4, and 8: satisfies Muir Social Sciences Requirement.
LIGN 8 Languages and Cultures of America (Course materials available on WebCT)	Language in American culture and society. Standard and non-standard English in school, media, pop-culture, politics; bilingualism and education; cultural perception of language issues over time; languages and cultures in the 'melting pot', including Native American, Hispanic, African-American, Deaf.	Satisfies: Muir College cultural diversity requirement, Revelle College American Culture requirement and Warren cultural diversity requirement. Counts toward Marshall College disciplinary breadth requirement and Sixth College breadth requirements.
LIGN 17 Making and Breaking Codes	A rigorous analysis of symbolic systems and their interpretations. Students will learn to encode and decode information using progressively more sophisticated methods; topics covered include ancient and modern phonetic writing systems, hieroglyphics, computer languages, and ciphers (secret codes).	Satisfies Marshall College computational skills requirement, Roosevelt and Warren College formal skills requirement and lower-division formal skills requirement for HDP majors. Satisfies Sixth College Structured Reasoning requirement.
LIGN 101 Introduction to the Study of Language	Language is what makes us human, but how does it work? This course focuses on speech sounds and sound patterns, how words are formed, organized into sentences, and understood, how language changes, and how it is learned.	Required for all majors. Serves as prerequisite for most Linguistics General courses. Satisfies psychological foundation requirement for HDP majors. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirements.
LIGN 104 Language and Conceptualization	How does language reflect the ways humans conceptualize the world? Issues discussed include the relation between language and thought, how languages differ in conceiving and portraying situations, and how cultural differences are reflected in language structure.	Satisfies psychological foundation requirement for HDP majors. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirements.
LIGN 105 Law & Language	The interpretation of language in understanding the law: 1) the language of courtroom interaction (hearsay, jury instructions); 2) written legal language (contracts, ambiguity, legal fictions); 3) language-based issues in the law (First Amendment, libel and slander).	Elective for majors. May be used as an elective course for the minor in Law & Society. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirements.
LIGN 108 Languages of Africa	Africa is home to an astonishing variety of languages. This course investigates the characteristics of the major language families as well as population movements and language contact, and how governments attempt to regulate language use.	Elective for majors.
LIGN 110 Phonetics	The study of the sounds which make up human language. How sounds are physically produced; acoustics of speech perception; practical training in translating speech signals into written form and in interpreting computerized speech signals.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Required for all majors.
LIGN 111 Phonology I	Why does one language sound different from another? This course analyzes how languages organize sounds into different patterns, how those sounds interact, and how they fit into larger units, such as syllables. Focus on a wide variety of languages and problem-solving.	Prerequisite: LIGN 110. Required for all majors.
LIGN 115 Phonology II	Current theoretical approaches to the sound structure of languages.	Prerequisite: LIGN 111. Elective for majors.
LIGN 120 Morphology	How do some languages express with one word complex meanings that English needs several words to express? Discovery of underlying principles of word formation through problem-solving and analysis of data from a wide variety of languages.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Required for majors.
LIGN 121 Syntax I	What universal principles determine how words combine into phrases and sentences? Introduction to research methods and results. Emphasis on how argumentation in problem-solving can be used in the development of theories of language.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Required for majors.
LIGN 125 Syntax II	Topics in the syntax of English and other languages. Syntactic theory and universals.	Prerequisite: LIGN 121. Elective for majors.
LIGN 130 Semantics	Introduction to the formal study of meaning. The meanings of words and phrases have an intricate internal structure that is both logical and intuitive. How, precisely, do words mean what they do in isolation and in context?	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Required for majors.
LIGN 140 The Structure of ASL	Examination of ASL phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, including linguistic facial expression and uses of physical space in verb agreement, aspectual morphology, and classifier constructions. Discussion of discourse, acquisition, psycholinguistics and historical change.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Elective for majors. Required for Language Studies majors with a concentration in ASL. May be used towards the language and ethnicity requirement in the Ethnic Studies major (see Ethnic Studies Dept. for details).
LIGN 141 Language Structures	Detailed investigation of the structure of one or more languages.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Elective for majors. May be repeated for credit as topics vary. Particularly recommended for Language Studies majors.
LIGN 143 The Structure of Spanish	Surveys aspects of Spanish phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax. Topics include dialect differences between Latin American and Peninsular Spanish (both from a historical and contemporary viewpoint), gender classes, verbal morphology, and clause structure.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Elective for majors. Required for Language Studies majors with a concentration in Spanish.
LIGN 144 Discourse Analysis: American Sign Language Poetry and Performing Arts	A discourse-centered examination of ASL verbal arts: rhyme, meter, rhythm, handedness, non-manual signals and spatial mapping; creation of scene and mood; properties of character, dialogue, narration and voice; cultural tropes; poetic constructions in everyday genres; transcription, body memory and performance.	Prerequisite: LISL 1C/1CX or consent of instructor.
LIGN 145 Pidgins and Creoles	Pidgin and creole languages provide important insights into the processes arising from natural language contact. Origins of pidgins and creoles; detailed description of salient aspects of their structure; relevance of pidgins and creoles for theories of syntax, morphology, language acquisition.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Elective for majors. May be used towards Sixth College breadth requirements. May be used towards the language and ethnicity requirement in the Ethnic Studies major (see Ethnic Studies Dept. for details).
LIGN 146 Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities	An examination of sociolinguistic research on Deaf communities throughout the world, including:sociohistorical contexts for phonological, lexical and syntactic variation, contact between languages, multilingualism, language policies and planning, second language learning, language attitudes and discourse analysis of specific social contexts. Course will be conducted in ASL.	Prerequisite: LISL 1C/1CX or consent of instructor.
LIGN 150 Historical Linguistics	Language is constantly changing. This course investigates the nature of language change, how to determine a language's history, its relationship to other languages, and the search for common ancestors or 'proto-language'.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Elective for majors.
LIGN 165 Computational Linguistics	An introduction to the fundamental concepts of computational linguistics, in which we study natural language syntax and semantics from an interpretation perspective, describe methods for programming computer systems to perform such interpretation, and survey applications of computational linguistics technology.	Recommended for majors interested in computational applications of linguistics.
LIGN 169 Principles of Discourse and Dialog	The principles and mechanisms that underlie the production and interpretation of monologic discourse and conversational dialog. Reference, attention, and dynamic models of discourse state. Discourse coherence and structure. Turn-taking and speech acts inconversation. Computational models.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101 strongly recommended.
LIGN 170 Psycholinguistics	The study of models of language and of language acquisition from the point of view of modern linguistics and psychology. Basic experimental method as applied to language.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Particularly recommended for Cognition & Language majors. Satisfies psychological development requirement for HDP majors.
LIGN 171 Child Language Acquisition	A central cognitive, developmental mystery is how children learn their first language. Overview of research in the learning of sound systems, word forms and word meanings, and word combinations. Exploration of the relation between cognitive and language development.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Particularly recommended for Cognition & Language majors. Satisfies psychological development requirement for HDP majors.
LIGN 172 Language and the Brain	The mind/body problem, basic neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, cerebral lateralization, origins and evolution of language, aphasia, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and event-related potentials (ERPs).	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Particularly recommended for Cognition & Language majors. Satisfies biological foundation requirement for HDP majors.
LIGN 174 Gender and Language in Society	This course examines how language contributes to the social construction of gender identities, and how gender impacts language use and ideologies. Topics include the ways language and gender interact across the life span (especially childhood and adolescence); within ethnolinguistic minority communities; and across cultures.	Prerequisite: Upper-division standing. Cross-listed with Sociology (SOCB 118A). Satisfies Socio-Cultural development requirement for HDP majors. Counts towards Warren College Cultural Diversity requirement. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirements. May be used towards the language and ethnicity requirement in the Ethnic Studies major (see Ethnic Studies Dept. for details).
LIGN 175 Sociolinguistics	The study of language in its social context, with emphasis on the different types of linguistic variation and the principles underlying them. Dialects; registers; sex-based linguistic differences; factors influencing linguistic choice; formal models of variation; variation and change.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Particularly recommended for Language & Society majors. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirements. May be used towards the language and ethnicity requirement in the Ethnic Studies major (see Ethnic Studies Dept. for details).
LIGN 176 Language of Politics and Advertising	How can we explain the difference between what is literally said versus what is actually conveyed in the language of law, politics, and advertising? How people's ordinary command of language and their reasoning skills are used to manipulate them.	Particularly recommended for Cognition & Language majors or Language & Society majors.
LIGN 177 Multilingualism	Official and minority languages, pidgins and creoles, language planning, bilingual education and literacy, code switching, and language attrition.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Particularly recommended for Language Studies majors or Language & Society majors. Satisfies psychological development requirement for HDP majors. Counts towards Warren College Cultural Diversity requirement. Counts towards Sixth College breadth requirements. May be used towards the language and ethnicity requirement in the Ethnic Studies major (see Ethnic Studies Dept. for details).
LIGN 178 Second Language Teaching Methodology	The history of second language teaching methodology, language acquistion theories, current methods and teaching techniques.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101.
LIGN 179 Second Language Acquisition Research	Topics in second language acquisition including the critical period, the processing and neural representation of language in bilinguals, theories of second language acquisition and creolization, exceptional language learners, and parallels with first language acquisition.	Prerequisite: LIGN 101. Particularly recommended for Cognition & Language majors. Satisfies psychological development requirement for HDP majors.
LIGN 195 Apprentice Teaching	Students lead a class section of a lower-division linguistics course. They also attend a weekly meeting on teaching methods.	Prerequisites: consent of instructor, advanced standing. Does not count toward minor or major. May be repeated for credit, up to a maximum of 4 units (P/NP only).
LIGN 196 Linguistics Internship	The student will undertake a program of practical research in a supervised work environment. Topics to be researched may vary, but in each case the course will provide skills for carrying out these studies.	Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
LIGN 199 Independent Study in Linguistics	The student undertakes a program of research or advanced reading in linguistics under the supervision of a faculty member of the Department of Linguistics.	Prerequisite: consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit (P/NP only).
LIGN 199H Honors Independent Study in Linguistics	The student undertakes a program of research and advanced reading in linguistics under the supervision of a faculty member in the Department of Linguistics.	Prerequisite: Admission to Honors Program. (P/NP only.)

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