This English-language Master's offers a chance to deepen your grounding in contemporary formal linguistics while exploring newer directions in the field. It is designed to build both theoretical insight and practical research experience, preparing students to pursue advanced study or research-related careers in linguistics.
The curriculum emphasizes synchronic approaches—especially syntax and phonology—while also addressing diachronic (historical) questions. Empirical work is an integral part of training, so students gain hands-on experience collecting and analyzing linguistic data alongside theoretical study.
Throughout the program you will develop a solid command of core descriptive and analytical theories and methods, and learn to apply them reflectively. Graduates leave with the methodological and interdisciplinary skills needed to carry out independent scientific work on problems that concern individual languages and language comparison.
Key focuses and learning outcomes:
This curriculum centers on in-depth, subject-specific study worth 42 credits, delivered through modules that cover core areas of contemporary linguistics. You will engage with descriptive linguistics, develop expertise in phonology, explore theoretical approaches to language change, and examine broader theoretical linguistics. Training in empirical methods and explicit modules on linguistic research strategies ensure you learn both the concepts and the tools needed to analyse language data rigorously.
Key modules emphasize both theoretical knowledge and hands-on methodological competence. Descriptive linguistics trains you to document and characterise languages; phonology focuses on sound systems and their analysis; courses on theory of language change investigate historical and social drivers of linguistic evolution; theoretical linguistics covers formal frameworks for understanding language structure; and empirical methods plus research-strategy modules equip you with data collection, quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques, and study design skills.
Learning outcomes include the ability to critically evaluate linguistic theories, to apply phonological and theoretical models to real data, to design and carry out empirical studies, and to formulate coherent research questions and strategies. The programme also supports interdisciplinary breadth: you can complement the core 42-credit package with “module packets” from other subjects, available in two sizes to suit your focus and career aims.
Requirements (academic structure)
You must hold a completed BA degree (or an equivalent undergraduate degree) and provide documentation proving your prior coursework. The admissions evaluation focuses on the amount and distribution of credits you have in linguistics or a closely related philology subject.
Specifically, the program requires a substantial foundation in core linguistic subfields and empirical methods. At least 60 credits in general linguistics, linguistics, or a specific philology are required overall; within those, a minimum of 36 credits must come from coursework in syntax, phonology, morphology, semantics, and empiricism (empiricism includes language courses in philological subjects, psycholinguistics, and/or corpus-based data acquisition). Practical language coursework and assessed language practice can be counted toward this total for up to 12 credits. Be prepared to submit official evidence (transcripts, course descriptions, or certificates) showing these credits.
Winter Semester (International)
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/103531.html
The programme prepares graduates for research-oriented careers by providing in-depth training in descriptive and analytical linguistic theories, empirical methods, and interdisciplinary research strategies. Many graduates will be well placed to pursue a PhD and careers in academic research or university teaching.
Outside academia, holders of this MA can work in language-related roles such as language documentation and preservation, corpus and data analysis, lexicography, language technology and NLP support roles, education and curriculum development, as well as consultancy for publishing, translation, or policy organisations where advanced linguistic expertise is required.