This course is an introduction to linguistics, the scientific study of language. It provides an intensive introduction to the main areas of linguistics: Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, Historical Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. Through lectures, in-class activities, and homework assignments, you will gain familiarity with a variety of linguistic phenomena, learn to recognize regularity in their structure and patterning, develop skills for linguistic analysis, and come to appreciate how insights from linguistics can be brought to bear on real-world issues. While some of the course uses English to illuminate various points, you will learn to analyze a wide variety of languages other than English. By the end of the course, you should be able to explain similarities and differences across human languages, use linguistic terminology appropriately, apply the tools of linguistic analysis to linguistics problems, and understand the questions that drive much of the research in linguistics.
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-SI
This course is an introduction to linguistics, the scientific study of language. It provides an intensive introduction to the main areas of linguistics: Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, Historical Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. Through lectures, in-class activities, and homework assignments, you will gain familiarity with a variety of linguistic phenomena, learn to recognize regularity in their structure and patterning, develop skills for linguistic analysis, and come to appreciate how insights from linguistics can be brought to bear on real-world issues. While some of the course uses English to illuminate various points, you will learn to analyze a wide variety of languages other than English. By the end of the course, you should be able to explain similarities and differences across human languages, use linguistic terminology appropriately, apply the tools of linguistic analysis to linguistics problems, and understand the questions that drive much of the research in linguistics.
Offered in Spring 2026, Summer 2026 at Stanford University.