Linguistics is the scientific study of language, its structure, and its use in human
communities. At the University of South Carolina we approach language from diverse
interdisciplinary perspectives.
Linguistics: our interdisciplinary approach Linguistics at South Carolina provides students with a strong background in linguistic
theory and rich introduction to our subdisciplines. Graduate students are trained
to pursue independent, original research and teach with excellence across the curriculum. The program affords graduates and
undergraduates alike the opportunity to take coursework or pursue specializations in the linguistics of specific languages and language families, historical linguistics,
linguistic anthropology, philosophy of language, phonology, psycholinguistics, second/foreign
language acquisition and teaching, semantics, sociolinguistics and syntax.
Check out our latest program news and events .
Diverse Departmental Collaborations
The Linguistics program collaborates with departments including Anthropology; English
Language and Literature; Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Philosophy; Psychology;
the English Programs for Internationals; Communication Sciences and Disorders; Computer
Science and Engineering; and Education. We are committed to building bridges with
many disciplines and to illuminating the important role of language and the study
of language in all aspects of our lives.
Degree Offerings
The Linguistics Program offers graduate degrees (MA and Ph.D. degrees) in Linguistics, as well as a graduate Certificate in Teaching
English as a Second Language (TESOL). At the undergraduate level, we offer a minor in Linguistics as well as a collaborative major in with a concentration in Linguistics, hosted by LLC. Please reach out to Program Director Emily Manetta
As we welcome a new graduate class to campus this year and welcome back our returning
students and faculty, we also welcome our newest faculty member Brandon Waldon, who
has a joint appointment with Philosophy. His research focuses on how context, linguistic
structure, and social cognition jointly enable linguistic communication, and he will
be teaching courses in computational methods and language and the law, among other
topics.
Sarah Wilson (supported by her mentor Amit Almor) has been awarded NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research grant entitled “Partner-Specific Alignment at the Lexical
and Syntactic Levels in Interactive Dialogue”. Congrats, Sarah!
AJ Murphy (USC PhD 2024) has accepted an tenure-track offer in the Department of English
at Bradley University. She will work to expand their Linguistics curriculum, organize
a language lab student research group, and bring the Language Conflict Project to
Bradley. Congrats, AJ!
