Department of Linguistics

Linguistics involves the scientific study of language structure, how humans acquire and use language, and how languages change. The Department of Linguistics at Purdue will help you develop the skills necessary to analyze any language and to understand the role language plays in societies around the world. Our courses cover methods for analyzing language, role of languages in society, word formation processes, mechanisms of speech production, and more. The department also offers a minor in Linguistics. 

Purdue's Department of Linguistics is distinguished by a strong applied focus after thorough theoretical training. Our graduate students apply theory while studying areas like bilingualism, language acquisition, corpus linguistics, natural language processing, and sign languages. Our many on-campus linguistic labs provide opportunities for research and collaboration. 

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The Purdue Linguistics Association is our student organization, and when school is in session, we warmly welcome you to the Ling Lunches (presentations and pizza) held every Wednesday 1:30-2:30PM in BRNG 1254, and coffee hours on Mondays at 1:30PM in SC 131.