The Linguistics Department at the University of Hawaii has a long tradition of empirical and theoretical study of language. While research and teaching cover most of the major language families of the world, we have a special focus on documenting and studying languages of the Pacific, including Austronesian and East Asian Languages. Among our areas of particular strength are language documentation and the study of language endangerment, language and cognitive processes, and language acquisition.

Our three MA programs in Linguistic Analysis, Experimental Linguistics, and Language Documentation and Conservation provide basic introductions to the subject matter and skills of the discipline. Our PhD program provides full professional training for careers in research and teaching.

Applications to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs are accepted for both the Fall and the Spring semesters. A complete description of admissions procedures is available on this site.

At the undergraduate level, we offer an Interdisciplinary BA in Linguistics, as well as a Linguistics minor.