MA Program

Requirements for the MA in linguistics at UT

The program of work for the MA in linguistics requires 36 credit hours. 

All graduate students must take the following 6 courses (18 credit hours).

LIN 381M – Phonetics             LIN 380L – Syntax I
LIN 380K – Phonology I          LIN 381L – Syntax II
LIN 381K – Phonology II         LIN 380M – Semantics I

In addition to the courses above, MA students must successfully complete one additional year of approved coursework beyond the required 18 credit hours.  This coursework will include:

• 6 hours in a minor area of study
• thesis/report hours (see below)
• at least one seminar in the area of specialization (see below)

Students in the MA program choose one of two options for the final paper:

Report option:  an MA report (officially, a one semester project), plus two seminars, plus 3 report credit hours (LIN 398R).

Thesis option:  the MA thesis (officially, a two semester project), plus one seminar, plus 6 thesis credit hours spread over two semesters (LIN 698A and 698B).

We expect the MA to be a two-year project. Students who successfully complete the MA in a timely fashion may be considered for transfer to the PhD program.

It is not necessary to earn the MA before being admitted to the PhD program.  Students without the MA can apply for admission to the PhD program.  In this case, students normally earn the MA en passant.  Normally, a student who has completed the Qualifying Paper formats the paper according to the requirements of the Graduate School, and submits the re-formatted version as an MA thesis or MA report.