Institute of Linguistics

The Institute of Linguistics (IoL) is the academic home of faculty and students researching and teaching in linguistics, the scientific study of human language, and its subfields.

Our curriculum and undergraduate and graduate degree programs provide a strong foundation of coursework in core areas of theoretical and descriptive linguistics:

• phonetics/phonology
• morphology
• syntax
• semantics/pragmatics

This foundation provides the basis for specialization in one or more of these areas as well as investigation of topics at the interface of other subfields and specialties, including interdisciplinary fields such as language and cognition, language processing (by humans and by machines), and language acquisition.

We encourage research that bridges the gap between linguistics as a pure science and applications such as:

• documentation and revitalization of endangered languages
• computational linguistics
• neurolinguistics

Our research strives to contribute to a theory that reveals the principles governing all human languages through analysis and description of particular languages.

Research projects funded by the National Science Foundation and other funding sources form an important focus for faculty and student research. These projects include collaborations with other units across the university, such as:

• The Center for Cognitive Sciences
• The Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• The Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
• The Institute of Child Development
• The Department of American Indian Studies

Upcoming Events

Linguistics Colloquium:
Colloquia are held during the academic year on Friday afternoons at 3:30pm in Elliott Hall, Room S204. To receive email announcements of the talks, contact Professor Hooi Ling Soh at sohxx001@umn.edu.

Syntax/semantics Reading Group:
A reading group on syntax/semantics meets during the academic year on Fridays from 1:30 to 3:00pm in Elliott S225. The group meets to discuss papers or books in the fields of syntactic and semantic theory. For more information, contact David Schueler.

Reserving S225

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