Linguistics

Degree: Master of Arts in Linguistics
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
Specialisations:
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Leiden’s MA in Linguistics concentrates on the study of the complexity of natural languages, offering you the chance to study from the more than eighty different languages taught through the Faculty of Humanities or from courses offered by other universities in the Netherlands. This one-year programme offers advanced courses in all areas of formal grammar—syntax, semantics, phonology—as well as experimental approaches to speech, acquisition and modelling of speech and language.

The information about this programme is available in the following languages:

This one-year programme offers advanced courses in all areas of formal grammar—syntax, semantics, phonology—as well as experimental approaches to speech, acquisition and modelling of speech and language. The courses are all based upon—or derived from—actual linguistic research carried out at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), one of the largest linguistics institutes in the Netherlands.

Prof. Cheng

“Linguistics is now 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 also 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.”