Master Linguistics

The module 04-046-2002 is a basic module and is offered every winter semester and serves to convey essential theoretical concepts of phonology, morphology and syntax, which will then play a role in the advanced modules. The module examination consists of a portfolio (typically a compilation of smaller tasks in the three courses).

The module 04-046-2001 is a basic module and is offered in a four-semester cycle in the winter semester. The module introduces basic theoretical concepts of sentence semantics and lexical semantics. A course on experimental semantics may also be offered. The module examination consists of a two-hour written exam. 

The module 04-046-2033 is a basic module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the summer semester. In the three courses of the module you will get to know various empirical methods of linguistics (e. g. elicitation techniques in field research, statistical methods, data annotation, corpus linguistic methods, lexicography, programming languages such as Python, etc.). The module examination consists of a portfolio (typically a compilation of smaller tasks in the three courses). 

The module 04-046-2010 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the summer semester. In the three courses of the module you will get to know theoretical, typological and/or experimental investigations and analyses of selected morphological phenomena (e. g. in the area of inflectional and derivational morphology). The module examination consists of a project together with a presentation.

The module 04-046-2013 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the summer semester. In the three  courses of the module you will get to know various theoretical approaches (e. g. rule-based or optimality theoretic) to selected phonological processes at the segment level (e. g. assimilation or neutralization processes); the feature level of the segments (e. g. feature geometries) is also dealt with. The module examination consists of a project together with a presentation. 

The module 04-046-2014 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the summer semester. In the three courses of the module, you will learn about empirical research and theoretical analyzes of phonological units that are larger than individual segments. This includes phenomena such as metrics, prosody, lexical and grammatical tone, sentence intonation, syllable theory, etc. The module examination consists of a project with a presentation.

The module 04-046-2015 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the winter semester. In the three courses of the module you will learn more about the theoretical treatment of syntactic phenomena that take place in the local area of the core predicate of the sentence (e. g. projection of arguments, case, diatheses, agreement, etc.). The module examination consists of a term paper.

The module 04-046-2016 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the winter semester. The module consists of three courses that deal with non-local processes in syntax (such as binding, control, Wh-constructions, long-distance dependencies, etc.), the associated theory and the special and general consequences arising from it (such as for architecture of grammar). The module examination consists of a project.

The module 04-046-2025 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the summer semester. The module consists of three courses that introduce the formal foundations of linguistic theories. The first seminar focuses on understanding a grammar formalism (e. g. minimalist grammars, categorial grammars). The second seminar is about the formal properties of restrictions, filters and optimization. The module examination consists of a portfolio.
 

The module 04-046-2026 is an advanced module and is offered in a four-semester cycle during the summer semester. The module is built around three courses (two seminars and a colloquium). One of the two seminars examines the relationship between abstract grammar and actual language usage, for example by developing a correct parsing algorithm for a linguistically motivated grammar formalism. The second seminar deals with how abstract grammar can be used effectively to predict the real, complex data of linguistic behavior. The module examination consists of a portfolio. 

The module 04-046-2031 is an advanced module and is offered every four semesters during the winter semester. The module consists of three courses (a seminar, an exercise and a colloquium). In the courses, methods of language typology (creation of typological samples, data analysis) and results from qualitative and quantitative typology are presented. The seminar focusses on particular phenomena. The module examination consists of a 30-minute oral exam.
 

The module 04-046-2034 is offered every semester, although it does not make sense to take it in your first semester. The aim of the module is for you to familiarize yourself with linguistic research questions and methods by means of a linguistic research project. You can complete the internship in a project at the Institute for Linguistics, but also outside of it (e. g. also at an external research institution with a linguistic focus or research component). You are expected to describe the internship during one of the institute colloquia (see §11 (1) of the Examination regulations); therefore, only those internships may be recognized where you are allowed to report on your internship. Clarify beforehand with a member of the institute whether the chosen internship is relevant to the degree; if it is not, it may not count for the purposes of this module. The internship should go on for at least 150 hours. Please submit a confirmation of the scope and content of the internship. The module examination consists of an internship report, which has to be submitted within 6 weeks after the end of the internship. Since you can, in principle, take this module in any semester, we expect that all examination components are completed by the end of the respective semester.

The module 04-046-2035 is a special module and is offered depending on the available teaching capacities. The basic concept of this module is to focus on a specific topic from different perspectives. The topics that can be considered are understudied languages or language families, current research concepts (such as economy, iconicity, cyclicity) or complex linguistic phenomena (such as diatheses, sentence embedding, topicality). In the seminars, the topic is considered from different linguistic perspectives (e. g. theoretical vs. experimental vs. typological) and with a view to the various sub-areas (phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics). The module examination takes the form of a project.

An imported module from another institute is counted as a special module, of which you may take a maximum of two. In order to import a module from another institute, you must submit an application to the examination committee justifing the choice of module. We cannot guarantee that you will be admitted to the desired module. Please contact the module coordinator for the relevant modules in advance. The module examination is determined by the respective examination regulations.

The Master's thesis is written during the third/fourth semester; it corresponds to a workload of thirty credit points. It can be written in English or in German. You have 23 weeks to complete your thesis (with a possible extension of maximally 6 weeks). Details are given here.

Because the language of instruction in the Linguistics MA is English, we expect English skills at a minimum of B2 level (Common European Framework of Reference). You can prove knowledge through school reports (English up to the completion of the university entrance qualification) or internationally recognized certificates. If you have English as your native language, you do not need to prove this. Furthermore, knowledge of another foreign language on at least B1 level is required, with evidence provided in the same ways. These languages are required to enroll in the Linguistics MA in Leipzig.

Any BA degree in (General) Linguistics can be credited if the course content of said degree program shows sufficient overlap with our Bachelor Linguistics (especially with regard to the core areas of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics). A degree in a Bachelor's program that only has content from applied linguistics (e.g., foreign language mediation, communication research) is considered to be unrelated to the subject.

If you have a bachelor's degree that is unrelated to your field of study, you must demonstrate the extent to which you have acquired linguistics knowledge through independent study, summer schools, additional linguistics classes/modules, or other means that will enable you to successfully complete our master's program. You can partially acquire missing knowledge by attending bachelor modules, but in this case you may sometimes encounter scheduling conflicts, since only the modules of one program are taught without overlap at a time; additionally, most bachelor courses are taught in German.

If you have already begun a Master's program elsewhere, we will determine to what extent we can credit modules from there. If there is an overlap in content with the modules offered by the institute, crediting them as a compulsory elective module (either basic or advanced) is often possible. Our Master's program allows for a maximum of 20 credit points for special modules, which may include modules imported from other institutes. If you bring in modules that we can also credit as a special module/module import, nothing stands in the way of crediting them as a special module. However, this will restrict the possibilities for taking further special modules by the corresponding number of credit points.

We attach great importance to the letter of motivation. It shows whether you have familiarized yourself with the contents of the Master's program (reading of module descriptions, examination regulations, course catalogs of the past years, and so on) and whether you are familiar with the research focuses of the institute. It is not uncommon for letters of motivation to address interests that are not covered by our course offerings. Biographical statements (how your interest in languages and linguistics arose) and generalities about language and languages are of little interest to the admissions committee. Instead, please explain why you want to come to our institute. It is also important to explain any linguistics knowledge you have acquired that is not documented in your transcript of records. The fewer linguistics modules you have completed in your Bachelor's program, the more important your explanation of your prior linguistic knowledge will be in the evaluation of your application.

If the examination of the subject-related admission requirements shows that we consider you to be suitable for the subject, you will receive a confirmation of this, which you must present later when enrolling. However, you will only be able to study at the University of Leipzig if you have also successfully applied to the university via Almaweb or Uniassist and have been accepted. If, for visa reasons, you are not able to start your studies immediately in the semester for which you have applied, you can also submit the confirmation of fulfillment of the subject-related admission requirements in the next semester or the semester after that.