Linguistics

Degrees Offered

Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy

Facilities for Graduate Work

The University General Libraries have strong collections in linguistics and all adjacent fields, in major world and regional languages, and in minority and indigenous languages the world over. The Archibald A. Hill Linguistics Library, maintained by the Department of Linguistics, includes an extensive collection of journals, unpublished manuscripts, and dissertations. The Benson Latin American Collection houses one of the world's greatest archives of materials on or in indigenous and colonial languages of Latin America.

The department maintains a well-equipped laboratory for research and instruction in acoustical phonetics and phonology. Students may also use the linguistics laboratory, geared toward natural speech analysis, that is maintained by the Department of Anthropology. The facilities of Academic Computing and Instructional Technology Services are among the most comprehensive at American universities.

Active interdisciplinary student-faculty research groups, which sponsor colloquia or conferences, include the Sounds Group (phonology and phonetics); the Syntax and Semantics Group; the Sign Language Interest Group; and the Sociolinguistics-Linguistic Anthropology Group. Annual student-run conferences include the conference of the Texas Linguistics Society and the Symposium about Language and Society--Austin (SALSA).

The Department of Linguistics has close links, including cross-listed faculty members and courses, to such adjacent fields as anthropology, foreign language education, philosophy, psychology, speech science, area studies (including Asian studies, Latin American studies, and Middle Eastern languages and cultures), Slavic languages and literatures, English, Germanic studies, French and Italian, and Spanish and Portuguese.

Areas of Study

The Department of Linguistics offers a strong theoretical grounding in the fundamental areas of linguistics--phonology and syntax--and in phonetics, semantics, and historical linguistics; it also offers strong grounding in computational linguistics, field linguistics/endangered languages, language acquisition, morphology, neurolinguistics, pidgin and creole studies, and sociolinguistics. There is a strong emphasis on giving students broad training in linguistics alongside their eventual specialization in one or more subfields.

A student's program of work in linguistics may be combined with supporting work in other areas: specific languages, anthropology, computer science, philosophy, or psychology.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 1998-1999.

Aaron Bar-Adon
Lisa J. Green
Ian F. Hancock
Robert T. Harms
Robert D. King
Manfred Krifka
Winfred P. Lehmann
Peter F. MacNeilage
Richard P. Meier
Scott Myers
Joel Sherzer
Carlota S. Smith
Harvey M. Sussman
Robert E. Wall
S. Keith Walters
Stephen Wechsler
Anthony C. Woodbury

Admission Requirements

Admission to graduate work is not restricted to those who have a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in linguistics. A number of other fields can also provide valuable preparation.

Degree Requirements

Master of Arts

Candidates for the master's degree must complete thirty-three semester hours of coursework, submit a thesis or report for approval by a supervising committee, and fulfill the foreign language requirement.

The following coursework is required. A course used to fulfill requirement 1, 2, or 3 may not also be used to fulfill requirement 4, 5, or 6.

1. Linguistics 380K, 380L, and 381M.

2. Linguistics 381K or 381L.

3. One of the following: Linguistics 380M, 382.

4. Two of the following: Linguistics 380M, 380S, 381K, 381L, 381S, 382, 385, 386M (Topic 2: Computational Linguistics I), 392 (Topic: Introduction to Language Acquisition), 393 (Topic 4: Neurolinguistics).

5. For those who choose the report option, six additional semester hours in graduate seminars in linguistics; for those who choose the thesis option, three additional semester hours in graduate seminars in linguistics.

6. Six hours in a minor area.

7. Linguistics 398R or 698.

Language requirement. The student must have four semesters of coursework or equivalent proficiency in a language other than English or two semesters of coursework or equivalent proficiency in each of two languages other than English. This requirement may be fulfilled by courses completed concurrently with the graduate program; by courses completed previously, as certified by college transcript; or by other evidence of proficiency. The student must also have sufficient competence in oral and written English to complete all other degree requirements.

Doctor of Philosophy

Candidates for the doctoral degree in linguistics must complete the following courses: Linguistics 380K, 380L, 380M, 381K, 381L, 381M, 382, and two courses from the following group: Linguistics 380S, 381S, 385, 386M (Topic 2: Computational Linguistics), 392 (Topic: Introduction to Language Acquisition), 393 (Topic: Introduction to Cognitive Science), and 393 (Topic 4: Neurolinguistics). In addition to the core, the student must complete twelve semester hours of advanced courses and nine hours of supporting work in a minor area.

Language requirement. The student must have four semesters of coursework or equivalent proficiency in a language other than English and two semesters of coursework or equivalent proficiency in a second language other than English. One language must be significantly different typologically from the student's native language(s); the other must be a language that will increase the student's access to the scholarly literature in his or her area of research. This requirement may be fulfilled by courses completed concurrently with the graduate program; by courses completed previously, as certified by college transcript; or by other evidence of proficiency. Students should consult the graduate adviser for more information about this requirement.

The student must also have sufficient competence in oral and written English to complete all other degree requirements.

Admission to candidacy. To qualify for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree, a student must submit two major papers for approval by a faculty committee; information about this procedure is available from the graduate adviser. A student is expected to qualify for doctoral candidacy by the end of the sixth long-session semester in residence.

For More Information

Campus address: Calhoun Hall (CAL) 501, phone (512) 471-1701, fax (512) 471-4340

Mailing address: Graduate Program, Department of Linguistics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1196

E-mail: linguistics@mail.utexas.edu

URL: http://www.utexas.edu/depts/linguistics/

Linguistics courses: LIN

Contents |  Chapter 1 |  Chapter 2 |  Chapter 3
Chapter 4 |  Chapter 5 |  Appendix

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