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Language is at the center of almost every human activity. Yet producing and understanding even the simplest of sentences is one of the most complicated tasks that humans perform. Linguistics, the general study of language, attempts to answer the following questions: How do we produce and understand sentences? How is language acquired by children? What are the ways in which the languages of the world are alike and different? How do languages change over time? How does our ability to speak language compare to our other cognitive abilities? How is language used in different social and cultural contexts?

Cornell offers full undergraduate and graduate programs in linguistics. The linguistics major, administered through the Department of Linguistics, offers undergraduates the opportunity to explore all facets of linguistics as well as the linguistics of many particular languages and language families. Linguistics offers Freshman Writing Seminars and a number of introductory linguistics courses with no prerequisites for those interested in exploring linguistics. Both a Ph.D. and M.A. are offered at the graduate level through the Graduate Field of Linguistics.