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department of linguistics

department of linguistics

3.6
A part of a university that teaches and studies how language works
  • noun
  • /dɪˈpɑrtmənt əv lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/
translation icon : departamento de lingüística
  • The department of linguistics offers a variety of courses on language and communication.

Examples

  • She is currently studying at the department of linguistics at the University of Cambridge.

  • As part of her research, she collaborated with the department of linguistics to analyze speech patterns.

  • Forty years old, she was a professor in the department of linguistics at Ridgemore College.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I'm a retired professor at MIT Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.

Synonyms

linguistics department
vsdepartment of linguistics
1 3.7

A university group that teaches and studies language

is the same but phrased with the field name first

How Specialized

department of linguistics
3.6
faculty
285 3.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

department + of + linguistics

The meaning is directly compositional: 'department' (an academic unit) combined with 'linguistics' (the study of language) yields an academic unit responsible for linguistics. The use of the preposition 'of' to link a field and its department is a common, cross-linguistic genitive pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the full meaning.

Etymology

Department of linguistics comes from the words department, meaning a part of a university, and linguistics, meaning the study of 'language' and linked to the idea of the 'tongue'. It literally names the part of the university where people teach and study language, so the phrase means the university unit for 'language' study.