About
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, bridging perspectives that focus on cognition, interaction, and technology across cultures and contexts. The systematic study of language is needed now more than ever as we navigate the challenges and opportunities of global interconnectedness, ranging from multilingualism to misinformation to AI.
In our department you can find linguists who ask the following questions and more:
- How can we explain patterns in sounds, grammar, and meaning across languages as diverse as Amharic, Spanish, and Mandarin?
- Why do people talk differently, and how do these differences arise?
- How do children and adults learn and process linguistic input?
- How can teachers facilitate language learning?
- How do people use language to build social relationships?
- How can we design AI technologies to help people obtain and organize information in the language of their choice?
- How can big data and AI help us discover new things about how people use language?
Georgetown Linguistics stands out for its commitment to analyzing a wide range of linguistic phenomena through different modes of inquiry. We examine language through its structure, acquisition, use in context, and via computational models. By valuing research at every level of analysis, we provide a foundation of linguistic study in a department that is built upon a tradition of unique pluralism.
The department celebrates the diversity of voices, viewpoints, and backgrounds represented in our research, our classes, our speaker series, and our many other academic and social activities. We acknowledge that academia, including the field of Linguistics, has perpetuated and reproduced persistent inequities that reflect broader structural systems of oppression in the world. We are committed to continue developing practices and policies that foster inclusion in our community.