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Linguistics

Department Highlights

 

Linguistics at Northwestern

linguistics classroom discussion

Language is a complex, species-specific system made up of several components (sound, sentence structure, and meaning). The study of linguistics gives us a unique window on the structure of the human mind and the mind's activity.

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Highlights

 

Our graduate students enjoyed a lunch provided by the Linguistics Department for GSAW (Graduate Student Appreciation Week).


Remembering Morris F. Goodman (1933-2025). Dr. Goodman was among the first faculty members in the Linguistics Department, which he joined only one year after its founding in 1965. He remained at Northwestern throughout his academic career until his retirement and is remembered for his contributions to Linguistics and African Studies. A memorial service for Dr. Goodman will be held February 20, 2025 in Wilmette. Further information about Dr. Goodman's life and accomplishments can be read in his obituary.

Events

 
May
22
2026
Dr. Lei Yuan : Psychology Colloquium Series

3:15 PM - 4:30 PM, Evanston

  Title: The Emergence of Compositionality: From Implicit to Explicit Representations of Relational Structure Abstract: A full account ...

Jun
5
2026
Linguistics QP Fest 2026

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM, Evanston

Join the Linguistics Department for QP Fest 2026! 3:00-4:30 QP Presentations 4:30-5:00 Senior Research Presentations 5:00-5:10 Demoz Pr...

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News

 
Congratulations to Shirley Yang, the winner of 2026 Demoz Prize!
Linguistics majors Andi Griñé and Maya Kraidy elected to Phi Beta Kappa!
Congratulations to Dr. Matt Goldrick on being elected as a member of the 2025 class of Honorary Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science!

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