Skip to main content
Department of Linguistics

Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics

Students on Summer 2021, Fall 2021, or Spring 2022 requirements LINGBA

The Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics broadens students' foreign language experience with the study of language structure and introduces students to a variety of aspects of linguistic investigation, including language use, meaning, and stylistics; language change and variation; and training in linguistic analysis of phonetic, phonological, morphological, and syntactic structure. Linguistics studies language in all its forms and uses.

Requirements

The major requires at least 30 credit hours (33 with the Addenda requirement), including the requirements listed below.
  1. Core.
    1. Phonetics. One (1) course:
      • LING-L 306 Phonetics
    2. Phonology. One (1) course:
      • LING-L 307 Phonology
    3. Syntax. One (1) course:
      • LING-L 310 Syntax
    4. Field Methods. One (1) course:
      • LING-L 431 Field Methods
      • LING-L 441 Field Methods in Sociolinguistics
  2. Language Structure. One (1) of the following options:
    • Linguistic Structures. One (1) course:
      • LING-L 490 Linguistic Structures
    • Advanced Field Methods. One (1) course:
      • LING-L 432 Advanced Field Methods
    • Less-Familiar Language. Two (2) consecutive courses in a language approved by the department, excluding modern Germanic and Romance languages.
      • AFRI-B 101 Elementary Bamana I
      • AFRI-B 102 Elementary Bamana II
      • AFRI-K 101 Elementary Akan I
      • AFRI-K 102 Elementary Akan II
      • AFRI-R 101 Elementary Kinyarwanda I
      • AFRI-R 102 Elementary Kinyarwanda II
      • AFRI-S 101 Elementary Swahili I
      • AFRI-S 102 Elementary Swahili II
      • AFRI-X 391 Individual Study of an African Language
      • AFRI-X 491 Advanced Individual Study of an African Language
      • AFRI-Y 101 Elementary Yoruba I
      • AFRI-Y 102 Elementary Yoruba II
      • AFRI-Z 101 Elementary Zulu I
      • AFRI-Z 102 Elementary Zulu II
      • CEUS-T 101 Introductory Finnish I
      • CEUS-T 102 Introductory Finnish II
      • CEUS-T 103 Introductory Estonian I
      • CEUS-T 104 Introductory Estonian II
      • CEUS-T 111 Introductory Uzbek I
      • CEUS-T 112 Introductory Uzbek II
      • CEUS-T 113 Introductory Kazakh I
      • CEUS-T 114 Introductory Kazakh II
      • CEUS-T 131 Introductory Uyghur I
      • CEUS-T 132 Introductory Uyghur II
      • CEUS-T 141 Introductory Hungarian I
      • CEUS-T 142 Introductory Hungarian II
      • CEUS-T 151 Introductory Persian I
      • CEUS-T 152 Introductory Persian II
      • CEUS-T 161 Introductory Mongolian I
      • CEUS-T 162 Introductory Mongolian II
      • CEUS-T 171 Introductory Tibetan I
      • CEUS-T 172 Introductory Tibetan II
      • CEUS-T 181 Introductory Turkish I
      • CEUS-T 182 Introductory Turkish II
      • EALC-C 101 Elementary Chinese I
      • EALC-C 102 Elementary Chinese II
      • EALC-J 101 Elementary Japanese I
      • EALC-J 102 Elementary Japanese II
      • EALC-K 101 Elementary Korean I
      • EALC-K 102 Elementary Korean II
      • INST-B 100 Introductory Bengali I
      • INST-B 150 Introductory Bengali II
      • INST-H 100 Beginning Hindi I
      • INST-H 150 Beginning Hindi II
      • INST-S 100 Elementary Sanskrit I
      • INST-S 150 Elementary Sanskrit II
      • INST-U 100 Beginning Urdu I
      • INST-U 150 Beginning Urdu II
      • JSTU-H 100 Elementary Modern Hebrew I
      • JSTU-H 150 Elementary Modern Hebrew II
      • LTAM-C 101 Elementary Haitian Creole I
      • LTAM-C 102 Elementary Haitian Creole II
      • LTAM-M 101 Elementary Maya I
      • LTAM-M 102 Elementary Maya II
      • LTAM-Q 101 Elementary Quechua I
      • LTAM-Q 102 Elementary Quechua II
      • MELC-A 100 Elementary Arabic I
      • MELC-A 150 Elementary Arabic II
      • SEAS-B 101 Elementary Burmese I
      • SEAS-B 102 Elementary Burmese II
      • SEAS-I 101 Elementary Indonesian I
      • SEAS-I 102 Elementary Indonesian II
      • SEAS-T 101 Elementary Thai I
      • SEAS-T 102 Elementary Thai II
      • SLAV-C 101 Elementary Czech I
      • SLAV-C 102 Elementary Czech II
      • SLAV-M 101 Elementary Romanian I
      • SLAV-M 102 Elementary Romanian II
      • SLAV-P 101 Elementary Polish I
      • SLAV-P 102 Elementary Polish II
      • SLAV-R 101 Elementary Russian I
      • SLAV-R 102 Elementary Russian II
      • SLAV-S 101 Elementary Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian I
      • SLAV-S 102 Elementary Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian II
      • SLAV-U 101 Elementary Ukrainian I
      • SLAV-U 102 Elementary Ukrainian II
      • SLHS-A 100 American Sign Language Level One
      • SLHS-A 150 American Sign Language Level Two
  3. Electives.
    1. Advanced Electives. Two (2) courses:
      • LING-L 308 Morphology
      • LING-L 315 Introduction to Sociolinguistics
      • LING-L 325 Semantics
      • LING-L 367 Languages of the World
      • LING-L 399 Readings in Linguistics (Honors)
      • LING-L 413 Psycholinguistics
      • LING-L 415 Corpus Linguistics
      • LING-L 430 Language Change and Variation
      • LING-L 431 Field Methods
      • LING-L 432 Advanced Field Methods
      • LING-L 435 Foundational Skills in Computational Linguistics
      • LING-L 441 Field Methods in Sociolinguistics
      • LING-L 445 The Computer and Natural Language
      • LING-L 480 Introduction to African Linguistics
      • LING-L 481 Language in Africa
      • LING-L 485 Topics in Linguistics
      • LING-L 490 Linguistic Structures
      • LING-L 499 Honors Project
      • LING-X 490 Readings in Linguistics
    2. Additional Electives. Three (3) additional courses:
      • Additional courses from the Advanced Electives list
      • LING-L 103 Introduction to the Study of Language
      • LING-L 112 Language and Politics
      • LING-L 115 African American Language
      • LING-L 203 Introduction to Linguistic Analysis
      • LING-L 205 Language and Style
      • LING-L 210 Topics in Language and Society
      • LING-L 213 Language Acquisition
      • LING-L 214 Animal Communication
      • LING-L 245 Language and Computers
  4. Addenda Requirement*.
    • Language Proficiency. One (1) 300–499 level foreign language course for at least three (3) credit hours.
      • AFRI-B 301 Advanced Bamana I
      • AFRI-B 302 Advanced Bamana II
      • AFRI-K 301 Advanced Akan I
      • AFRI-K 302 Advanced Akan II
      • AFRI-S 301 Advanced Swahili I
      • AFRI-S 302 Advanced Swahili II
      • AFRI-X 391 Individual Study of an African Language
      • AFRI-X 491 Advanced Individual Study of an African Language
      • AFRI-Y 301 Advanced Yoruba I
      • AFRI-Y 302 Advanced Yoruba II
      • AFRI-Z 301 Advanced Zulu I
      • AFRI-Z 302 Advanced Zulu II
      • FRIT-F 314 Creative and Critical Writing in French when taken Summer 2024 or later
      • FRIT-M 300 Italian Conversation and Diction
      • MELC-A 300 Advanced Arabic I
      • SLHS-A 300 American Sign Language Level Five
      • CEUS-T 301 Advanced Finnish I
      • CEUS-T 302 Advanced Finnish II
      • CEUS-T 303 Advanced Estonian I
      • CEUS-T 304 Advanced Estonian II
      • CEUS-T 311 Advanced Uzbek I
      • CEUS-T 312 Advanced Uzbek II
      • CEUS-T 313 Advanced Kazakh I
      • CEUS-T 314 Advanced Kazakh II
      • CEUS-T 331 Advanced Uyghur I
      • CEUS-T 332 Advanced Uyghur II
      • CEUS-T 341 Advanced Hungarian I
      • CEUS-T 342 Advanced Hungarian II
      • CEUS-T 351 Advanced Persian I
      • CEUS-T 352 Advanced Persian II
      • CEUS-T 361 Advanced Mongolian I
      • CEUS-T 362 Advanced Mongolian II
      • CEUS-T 371 Advanced Tibetan I
      • CEUS-T 372 Advanced Tibetan II
      • CEUS-T 381 Advanced Turkish I
      • CEUS-T 382 Advanced Turkish II
      • CLAS-L 300 Intensive Introduction to Classical and Medieval Latin
      • CLAS-L 307 Cicero
      • CLAS-L 309 Introduction to Vergil's Aeneid
      • EALC-C 301 Third-Year Chinese I
      • EALC-C 302 Third-Year Chinese II
      • EALC-J 301 Third-Year Japanese I
      • EALC-J 302 Third Year-Japanese II
      • EALC-J 401
      • EALC-J 402
      • EALC-K 301 Third-Year Korean I
      • EALC-K 302 Third-Year Korean II
      • FRIT-F 300 French and Francophone Studies: Introduction
      • FRIT-F 313 Advanced Grammar
      • FRIT-F 315 The Sounds and Rhythms of French
      • FRIT-F 316 Conversational Practice
      • FRIT-M 301 Italian Reading and Expression
      • GER-G 300 Fifth-Semester College German
      • GER-G 330
      • GER-G 400 Advanced College German
      • GER-K 300 Advanced Norwegian I
      • GER-K 330 Advanced Norwegian II
      • GER-N 300 Advanced Dutch I
      • GER-N 330 Advanced Dutch II
      • HISP-P 311 Advanced Grammar and Composition in Portuguese
      • HISP-P 317 Reading and Conversation in Portuguese
      • HISP-S 308 Composition and Conversation in Spanish
      • HISP-S 315 Spanish in the Business World
      • HISP-S 322
      • HISP-S 324 Introduction to the Study of Hispanic Cultures
      • HISP-S 326 Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
      • HISP-S 328 Introduction to Hispanic Literature
      • HISP-S 334 Panoramas of Hispanic Literature
      • HISP-S 335 Mexican Culture in a Service Learning Context
      • INST-B 300 Advanced Bengali I
      • INST-B 350 Advanced Bengali II
      • INST-H 300 Advanced Hindi I
      • INST-H 350 Advanced Hindi II
      • INST-S 300 Advanced Sanskrit I
      • INST-S 350 Advanced Sanskrit II
      • INST-U 300 Advanced Urdu I
      • INST-U 350 Advanced Urdu II
      • JSTU-H 300 Advanced Modern Hebrew I
      • JSTU-H 350 Advanced Modern Hebrew II
      • SLAV-C 301
      • SLAV-C 302
      • SLAV-P 301
      • SLAV-P 302
      • SLAV-R 301 Advanced Intermediate Russian I
      • SLAV-R 302 Advanced Intermediate Russian II
      • SLAV-S 301
      • SLAV-S 302
  5. Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
    1. Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
    2. Major Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
    3. Major Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
    4. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
    5. College Breadth. At least 58 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.

Major Area Courses

Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:

  • Any course at the 100–499 level with the LING subject area prefix—as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent
  • Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
  • Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception

This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

  • Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Linguistics (ANTHLNGBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Anthropology (LINGANTBA)
  • Bachelor of Science in Computational Linguistics (COMPLINGBS)
  • Bachelor of Science/Master of Science in Computational Linguistics (CMLNBSMSBS)
  • Minor in Linguistics (LINGMIN)

Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.