Linguistics, the study of human language, is a young and vibrant discipline.  On the theoretical side, understanding how language is structured and functions is part of the cognitive sciences.  After all language is hosted in the human brain and nowhere else.  Linguists work between actual sounds on the one end and meaning on the other end, because it is known that language, at the very least, involves sounds that convey meaning.

Phonetics is the study of the anatomy, physiology, and physics of speech sounds; how the human vocal apparatus produces the sounds which make language possible.  Phonology is the study of how these sounds are organized cognitively by the brain into a functioning system of consonants, vowels, tone, intonation, etc, for each language.  In Morphology students learn how these basic sounds are then combined to form morphemes and words. In Syntax, the worlds languages are studied, languages which not only have different words, but very different systems of arranging words into sentences (syntax).

Beyond the differences though, there are aspects of syntax which are common to all human languages.  A major theme in modern linguistics is discovering the characteristics of this universal grammar (UG) that all humans are argued to share.  While these core subject areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax are a necessary base, linguists are also interested in psychological aspects of language use (Psycholinguistics), how language functions in society (Sociolinguistics), how language functions are distributed in the brain (Neurolinguistics), etc.

At Tyndale, the curriculum focuses on core questions of language structure, mainly from the generative perspective, but not uniquely.  Beyond structural aspects of language, in keeping with the liberal arts tradition, the Linguistic program seeks to relate hard empirical science to classical concerns in the humanities about language use and meaning in Literature, Philosophy and Theology. Linguistics is therefore of interest to future teachers, speech pathologists, psychologists, and those planning to work with unwritten or little-studied languages, or learn new languages. This training can form the basis for graduate work in academic linguistics or for a variety of vocations where knowledge of language is used and applied. Linguistics makes a wonderful dialogue partner for the companion disciplines of English Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, and Biblical Studies.