What can a Linguistics major do for you?

UK’s Linguistics program, the only program of its kind in the Commonwealth, is dedicated to the scientific investigation of human language. Linguists are interested in a precise and systematic understanding of the phenomenon of human language, and ask the question: what is a possible human language? The linguistics program at the University of Kentucky is an interdepartmental program in which faculty’s research and teaching interests cover a wide range of languages and theoretical approaches, and include the fields of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, dialect studies, field methods, sociolinguistics, and second language acquisition. You will study the diverse ways in which languages differ from one another, the processes of language learning and language use, and the historical relationships that exist among the world’s languages. A degree in linguistics gives you excellent preparation for careers in computing and technology, clinical fields relating to speech, international business and education publishing, the legal profession, advocacy, government agencies and many other professions.

7102 Languages Spoken in the World

4% of languages are spoken in Europe

1 University offering a BA in Linguistics in Kentucky

What skills does studying linguistics develop?

• ability to think logically about the form and meaning of language
• awareness of physical, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of language use
• capacity to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing
• effectively work in a collaborative environment
• ability to gather and interpret complex information and synthesize the findings in a coherent manner

Career opportunities

A degree in linguistics (for more click here) gives students excellent preparation for careers in computing and technology; clinical fields relating to speech and language; international business and education; publishing; and many other professions. Linguistic majors are also prepared to continue their education in graduate studies. Possible occupations for linguistic majors include but are not limited to the following:

• artificial intelligence
• forensic linguistics
• general linguistics
• language teaching
• lexicography
• language documentation
• minority language advocacy
• natural language processing
• neurology
• psycholinguistics
• sociolinguistics
• speech pathology
• translation