Theoretical Linguistics - master

The Master's of Philosophy in Theoretical Linguistics covers graduate level studies in theoretical linguistics, and is to be seen as an extension of work at the Bachelor's level. The programme places special emphasis on the formal aspects of grammar, in particular syntax and phonology. The approach to these disciplines relies on comparative studies of many languages. Students will develop insight into the structure of language, comparative aspects of linguistic research, social and geographic variation, the historical development of languages and language acquisition. At the Master's level, students will develop special interests based on their coursework and will write either a Master's Thesis or two article-length papers.

The programme consists of the following components:

• 60 ECTS of coursework and
• 60 ECTS for either (1) one thesis, or (2) two articles.

The two elective ten credit courses can come from any 3000-level course in language or linguistics offered by the groups for English and General Linguistics, Finnish/Kven, Nordic, Russian, Saami, and Spanish. Note that elective courses must be oriented to theory of language rather than practical language learning. By application, other courses may be accepted (e.g. courses in philosophy, psychology, mathematics, and so on), as long as their relevance to the degree can be documented.

Interdisciplinary courses
Several "interdisciplinary" courses are offered, and these courses are assigned a HIF-code in the university course catalogue. Not all of the HIF-courses, however, may be appropriate for incorporation into the programme. To find out which HIF-courses are accepted as part of the Master in Theoretical Linguistics, please contact the programme staff.

Progression
The following courses are compulsory in Semester 1: HIF-3010 Syntax I, and HIF-3022 Phonology I. In addition students are required to complete an elective course.

The following courses are compulsory in Semester 2: HIF-3011 Syntax II, and HIF-3021 Phonology II. In addition students are required to complete an elective course.

Master's Thesis
The degree includes 60 ECTS which must be earned either (i) by writing one Master's Thesis (60 ECTS) or (ii) by writing two papers (30 ECTS each). This work is normally done individually, but may be part of a research project being carried out at the Department of Language and Culture (ISK). The topic and supervisors for this work will be chosen in consultation with one of the academic staff. There is no other restriction on the subfield of linguistics that the thesis should deal with, but it is expected that the content be contextualized to reflect an understanding of the relevant issues from linguistic theory. This applies also to those opting to write two papers, but in this case the two papers cannot be in the same subfield.