Cornell University Registrar

Program Description

The minor in linguistics gives students the opportunity to gain formal recognition for substantial coursework in linguistics without the burden of an additional major. The linguistics minor may be a valuable complement to studies in English, foreign languages, psychology, philosophy, computer science, biology, human development, or engineering and is open to undergraduates across Cornell.

Academic Standards

Grade Requirements

All qualifying courses must be taken at Cornell for a letter grade. Grades of S/U or SX/UX will not be accepted.

Each course must be completed with a grade of C- or better to count toward the minor. 

Minor Declaration Information

Interested students are invited to consult with the Linguistics Director of Undergraduate Studies, Helena Aparicio, 210 Morrill Hall.

Students who declare the minor will consult with either the Director of Undergraduate Studies or an assigned minor advisor on the selection of courses appropriate to their academic objectives.

Program Information

• Minimum Credits for Minor: 18

Minor Requirements

Prerequisites

Minimum grade of B- in the following:

• LING 1101 Introduction to Linguistics
• At least one other LING course which counts towards the minor

Requirements

Five courses in Linguistics or courses approved for the linguistics major, including:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
LING 1101	Introduction to Linguistics	4
At least one other foundation course:		4
LING 3302	Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
LING 3303	Introduction to Syntax and Semantics
LING 3314	Introduction to Historical Linguistics

Three additional linguistics courses (of 3 credits or more) meeting the following conditions:

• at least one of these must be at the 3000 level or above
• no more than one of these may be at the 1000 level

Additional Information

Some substitutions to these standard requirements are possible by petition to your advisor and with approval by the director of undergraduate studies. 

Any course with a LING prefix except for First-Year Writing Seminars and Language courses counts as a linguistics course.¹

¹

Note: Cross-listed courses are counted as linguistics courses whether they are taken under the LING prefix or another prefix.