General Linguistics MA Program | Courses & Requirements

Requirements (all courses are 3 units)

* Three classes required of all linguistics M.A. students:

§ Linguistics 502: Language, Mind and Society (prerequisite: Ling 501)

§ Linguistics 503: Functions of Language (prerequisite: Ling 501)

§ Linguistics 795: Seminar in linguistics (with General Linguistics content) ( prerequisite: completion of 3 units of linguistics courses at the 600 or 700 level.)

* One class from the following courses:

§ Linguistics 621: Advanced Phonology (prerequisite: Ling. 521)

or

§ Linguistics 622: Discourse and Syntax (prerequisite: Ling. 503, 522 or 522)

*Two classes from the following courses:

§ Linguistics 610: Topics in Historical Linguistics. Methods and principles in historical study of language; processes of language change and linguistics reconstruction.

§ Linguistics 620 Advanced Formal Syntax. Advanced study of formal syntactic theory.

§ Linguistics 640 Fields Methods. Principles and techniques of linguistic analysis working directly with native informants.

§ Linguistics 651 Sociology of Language. (Prerequisite: Ling. 551) Cultural diversity in language use, social-theoretical background, language planning, and social uses of sexism in language.

§ Linguistics 654 Language and Cognition. ( Prerequisite: Ling. 452 or 552) Study of language, perception, and cognition with focus on cross-linguistic data. Introduction to cognitive science.

§ Linguistics 660 History of Linguistics. Background and development of modern linguistic theory.

* for additional classes appropriate to completion of the 30-unit program, see the
Graduate Bulletin.

* Completion of a thesis (Plan A) or comprehensive MA Exam (Plan B).

Additional information about Linguitics 795

Previously taught seminars in General Linguistics

Lexical Semantics. Fall 2003.
This seminar serves as an introduction to current issues in lexical semantics, focusing on those surrounding the lexical semantics syntax interface. The general problem is how much meanings determine syntactic properties and how those properties vary cross-linguistically. We begin with a reading from the introduction of Beth Levin's book, English Verb Classes and Alternations, which lays out a program of research in lexical semantics.

Language and Law. Fall 2001
Use of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics to construe operative legal texts such as constitutions, statutes, and contracts. Legal scholarship on such interpretation viewed in light of linguistics. How courts have construed operative texts.