Department of Linguistics

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Undergraduate student Rachel Woldmo

Find your edge in linguistics

Undergraduate student Rachel Woldmo says she enjoys the analytical and problem-solving aspects of linguistics.

Become a student
Student in a lab

Discover our programs

Our programs explore everything from the structure of languages around the world, to how language is organized in our minds and how best to teach languages.

Undergraduate programs
Aliki Marinakis works at her desk

Exciting careers in linguistics

UVic alumna Aliki Marianakis uses her linguistics education every day as the Indigenous Language Revitalization Program manager for UVic's Indigenous Education program.

Career possibilities
Marianne Huijsmans in a UVic building

Graduate studies in linguistics

Marianne Huijsmans' love of sound and singing drew her to UVic to study how the structure of language relates to human understanding.

Become a graduate student
Student and professor recording their voices in a sound lab

Inspiring courses

Discover thought provoking courses that will help you understand the complex role language plays in the lives of people, communities and societies.

Courses
Dr. Heather Bliss reading a book with a member of the Blackfoot Indigenous community

Research that has an impact

UVic is unique in bridging three interrelated areas of specialization: theoretical linguistics, applied linguistics and Indigenous language revitalization. Dr. Heather Bliss conducts research on the Blackfoot language.

Our research
Two undergraduate students use an ultrasound to look at tongue movement

Resources and equipment to support your learning

Students have access to the labs and equipment they need to support their learning and research.

Resources

Dr. Noam Chomsky - Genuine Explanation

We invited Dr. Noam Chomsky, Laureate Professor and Agnese Nelms Haury Chair Department of Linguistics (University of Arizona), to give a Lansdowne Lecture on Genuine Explanation. Attendance reached capacity at 500! Missed it? Watch it on our video on demand channel!

Watch Genuine Explanation

Explore language

Are you wondering in Kwak'wala ? Aiming for a career as a language teacher or a speech language pathologist? Linguistics has a place for you.

By studying linguistics, we are opening up a window into the mind.
-Hossein Nassaji

Our department offers programs that explore everything from the structure of languages ​​to the world. Indigenous language revitalization programs, in partnership with Indigenous Education at UVic.

Find your edge at UVic's Department of Linguistics

Undergraduate
programs

UVic students

Undergraduate studies

Graduate
programs

Student studying by the UVic fountain

Graduate studies

Available
resources

Linguistic textbooks

More resources

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.