Linguistics

Degree: Master of Arts in Linguistics
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60815
Specialisations:
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Leiden University is particularly well equipped for the study of human languages in all their diversity. There is no other academic institution in the Netherlands or in the neighbouring countries where as many distinct languages are taught and studied, from modern, well-known languages, such as English, French and Italian, to more exotic ones such as African languages, Native American languages, and Indonesian.
Besides this broad range of languages, a further characteristic of the Leiden Linguistics programme is the diversity of theoretical approaches and perspectives in how language is studied.


After obtaining their master’s, Leiden linguists are able to analyse linguistic problems at an academic level, and are in demand for their communicative and practical competences, such as their command of a specific language, their knowledge and skills in translating, and their communicative and editorial talents.

Within the master’s you can on the one hand focus on describing languages, or, alternatively, you can study language from a theoretical perspective. The faculty hosts expertise with a strong tradition in a number of approaches to language variation and language change, for example with respect to syntax, phonology, semantics, historical linguistics and language and communication. You can also focus on the more practical aspects of language, such as translation or text analysis from a communicative perspective.

Within the specialisations there are a wide range of possibilities to create your own unique master’s programme, adapting the content to reflect your own specific fields of interest. In this context you can make use of the expertise of the researchers at Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL). This institute has a high and long-standing international reputation, with many researchers who have been awarded prestigious grants and academic prizes. Teaching at LUCL is in small-scale groups which means that students benefit from a high level of personal attention.

How did Dutch sound?

Michiel de Vaan

Dr. Michiel de Vaan explains how Dutch would have sounded 500, 1,000 and 1,500 years ago in the TV-show Man over woord.

Prof. Lisa Cheng

Lisa Cheng

“Linguistics is a part of the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, where
ground-breaking interdisciplinary research is carried out.”

“The master’s in Linguistics in Leiden is a master’s in formal linguistics. We have designed the programme in such a way that the students can opt for different specialisations (for example, syntax, semantics, phonetics, clinical linguistics). All of our faculty members are dedicated researchers, who are well-known internationally. Students who come to our programme will be able to learn from, and work with these faculty members.

Leiden has a special Chinese library, which is comparable to the Yen-Ching Library in Harvard University. For anyone who would like to work on Chinese linguistics, it is a really wonderful place.

We have formal connections with McGill University (Canada) and Université de Nantes, and informal connections with universities all over the world (including in the United States). There are regular colloquium series and workshops in which master’s students can also participate.

Linguistics is now part of the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, where a great deal of groundbreaking interdisciplinary research is done. Leiden is now the place to be. My speciality in linguistics is comparative syntax. I compare languages within a language group (such as Chinese and Bantu languages), and I also do cross language-family comparison, such as comparing Greek and Chinese, Romance and Bantu.”