Linguistics
Exploring the Major
Why do people speak English so differently depending on where they live? What makes Arabic so different from Spanish? Why was my mission language so much easier to acquire than the language I studied in high school? What is being done to preserve the world's languages? How are less commonly spoken languages being documented and preserved? What patterns deserve the most attention when giving feedback on another person's writing? How can I support and teach learners of English as a second language? What are the best tools for finding the most common patterns in the languages I'm interested in? If these questions intrigue you, Linguistics is the place for you!
Linguistic Department Contacts
- Department chair: Dan Dewey https://hum.byu.edu/directory/dan-dewey
- Academic and professional development manager: Jon Cook jon_cook@byu.edu
- Substitution Coordinator: Chris Rogers chris_rogers@byu.edu 4047 jfsb 801-422-4707
- Office: 4064 JFSB lingoffice@byu.edu 801-422-2937
- Faculty Advisors (Advisor's are divided by last name alphabetically):
- A-E Chris Rogers chris_rogers@byu.edu
- F-J Jeff Green jjgreen@byu.edu
- K-O Janis Nuckolls janis_nuckolls@byu.edu
- P-T Jeffrey Parker jeff_parker@byu.edu
- U-Z Earl Brown earl_brown@byu.edu
- Internship coordinator: Nicole Bay nicole_bay@byu.edu
Competencies & Careers
Competencies Developed in the Program
Students in the Linguistics program can expect to develop strong Communication, Information Literacy, and Cultural Navigation competencies. Want to know more about these professional competencies?
Career Readiness
Common Career Fields
- Law
- Medicine
- Professor
- NSA/CIA/FBI/Military Linguist
- State Department
- Translator/interpreter
- Lexicographer/etymologist
- Advertising/Marketing
- Researcher
- Librarian
- Curtator
- Genealogist
- Journalism
- Language policy consultant
- Market analyst
- Voice/dialect coach
- Localization expert
- Speech therapist
- Textbook writer
- Natural language processing
- Foreign language teacher
- Technical writer
Student Success Stories
Luke Becktrand
"After graduating with my BA in Linguistics in 2024, I worked part-time as a Semantics Analysis Specialist for an AI company, helping correct mistakes in their LLM model. The following Fall I began my MA in Linguistics at BYU, working on a thesis researching writing self-efficacy amongst multilingual university students. I am currently halfway through that program, enjoying my classes, and also teaching first year composition classes as a Grad Instructor. My Linguistics BA definitely opened up a lot of paths for me—I wouldn't have gotten the Semantics Analysis job without it, especially because that was introduced to me through networking with other linguistics students at BYU. I am loving my MA and excited about my thesis."
Yulin Liu
"Hi, I’m Yulin! I graduated from BYU in April 2024 with a degree in linguistics and have been with FamilySearch ever since. I first joined as an intern, working as a blog translation publisher and content strategist, managing the publication of translated blogs in multiple non-English languages. After my internship, I transitioned to my current role as a marketing strategist for the Asia-Pacific area. My degree, along with the internships and jobs I held at BYU, prepared me to understand and adapt to audiences from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and to manage a variety of language projects. I highly recommend an internship with FamilySearch—it’s been the best experience!"
FAQ's
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Toggle ItemHow do I add this major?
We are an open major! You can do it yourself on the mymap page or you can contact the Liberal Advisement and Careers Center to declare the major. (801)422-3541
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Toggle ItemHow do I complete requirement 6 (the foreign language requirement)?
Once you have passed a foreign language course at the 201(106 for Spanish) or higher level please contact Jon Cook jon_cook@byu.edu in the advisement center to manually close this requirement on your progress report.
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Toggle ItemWhat does the "r" mean at the end of some of the required courses?
The “r” stands for repeatable and what makes a course repeatable is that it is taught differently each time. That could be due to the subtopic or where the course is going to be taught etc. When you are in the “register” tab looking for classes, make sure you look in the “header” row for the subtopic to determine if the course is right for you.