Linguistics (PhD)

Department Website

Program Description

The PhD program in Linguistics is for students interested in a career in research. Students receive a solid training in the fundamentals of phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, language acquisition, and computational linguistics (see faculty groupings and links to personal pages below). Subsequently, students attend advanced courses and engage in creative research, presented in two qualifying papers and a dissertation. The program has a foreign language requirement.

All students have the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for one or more undergraduate courses, and are strongly encouraged to do so, though this is not a requirement of the program.

Our department does not offer any courses in applied linguistics. For such courses at NYU, please contact the TESOL Program at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Students may only enroll in the Fall semester.

Admissions

All applicants to the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) are required to submit the general application requirements, which include:

• Academic Transcripts
• Test Scores (if required)
• Applicant Statements
• Résumé or Curriculum Vitae
• Letters of Recommendation, and
• A non-refundable application fee.

See Linguistics for admissions requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Program Requirements

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Major Requirements
LING-GA 1210	Phonology I	4
LING-GA 1310	Syntax I	4
LING-GA 1340	Semantics I	4
LING-GA 1510	Sociolinguistics	4
Breadth Requirement		12
Select three of the following: 1
LING-GA 44	Field Methods
LING-GA 1012	Natural Language Understanding and Computational Semantics
LING-GA 1029	Intro to Morphology at An Advanced Level
LING-GA 1220	Phonology II
LING-GA 1230	Computational Phonology
LING-GA 2310	Syntax II
LING-GA 2370	Semantics II
LING-GA 2530	Linguistic Variation
LING-GA 2710	Neurolinguistics
LING-GA 2540	Sociolinguistic Field Methods
LING-GA 2110	Acoustic Phonetics
Area Requirement 2		4
Electives
Other Elective Credits		40
Total Credits		72

¹

Or another departmental, extra-departmental or consortium course. At most one of these courses may be used to satisfy both a breadth requirement and the student's area requirement (see below). Students may satisfy a breadth requirement with another graduate introductory level course either in the Linguistics department, in another department at NYU, or at a consortium partner university. Students must consult with their advisor in advance and obtain the permission of the Director of Graduate Studies if they wish to use a course not on this list to satisfy a breadth requirement.

²

Students must take two courses that constitute an area of specialization. One of these courses may also be used to satisfy the breadth requirement. The second course should be decided on with the student’s advisor and be approved by the DGS. An area of specialization may be one of the traditional sub-disciplines of linguistics (e.g., syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, language acquisition, morphology) or another area of specialization that crosses these sub-disciplines, decided on between a student and their advisor.

Additional Program Requirements

Language Proficiency

For the PhD degree, the student must demonstrate reasonable proficiency in one language other than English that is of clear relevance to the student’s research, subject to approval by the director of graduate studies. Proficiency can generally be demonstrated in two ways: First, by earning a grade of B or better in at least the fourth term of a college foreign language course completed not more than two years before the student’s admission to the Graduate School of Arts and Science. Second, by passing the appropriate Graduate School of Arts and Science foreign language proficiency examination. When proficiency is demonstrated in some other way (e.g., when a student presents an undergraduate degree from a foreign university where the language in question is the medium of instruction for the student’s course of study), the director of graduate studies may grant a waiver of the foreign language examination.

Qualifying Papers

Students must submit qualifying papers in two different areas of linguistics. A qualifying paper (QP) is called “qualifying” because a student demonstrates that she or he is qualified to do a dissertation. It contains original thought, a command of the literature, sound linguistic analysis and argumentation, and clear presentation. Each paper must be no more than 50 double-spaced pages in length (tables, charts, spectrograms, footnotes, and bibliography included).

The student submits the first QP in the fourth semester of the student’s career and the second QP in the fifth semester. If one of the QPs contains an extensive experimental or fieldwork component, one semester may be added to that QP’s timetable. An extension will only be permitted for one QP. Thus, if it is the first QP, it is due in the fifth semester (and hence the second QP is due in the sixth semester), while if it is the second QP that adds an extensive experimental/fieldwork component, it is due in the sixth rather than the fifth semester. Students who do not meet these requirements will be put on academic probation.

Dissertation Proposal

After a student has completed the second qualifying paper, the student begins work on a dissertation proposal. Once the student has selected the area in which she or he wishes to write a dissertation, the student should meet with her or his potential dissertation adviser and obtain that faculty member’s agreement to serve in that capacity. Students are expected to choose the dissertation adviser by the end of the first week of the seventh semester. This person is responsible for working with the student to make sure that the dissertation proposal is completed in a timely fashion. The student’s dissertation committee will consist of four faculty members, at least three of whom will come from within the department, in addition to the dissertation adviser. A full committee for the dissertation should be chosen by February 1 of the eighth semester.

The dissertation proposal is to be a maximum of 50 double-spaced pages, including footnotes, tables, charts, spectrograms, and bibliography. It should demonstrate a command of the literature, the significance of the dissertation (i.e., the contribution that it will make to the field), the structure of the proposed dissertation, and the student’s ability to carry out linguistic analysis of a quality appropriate for a dissertation. Students may incorporate one (or both) of the qualifying papers into the dissertation proposal if appropriate. Similarly, it is fully expected that large sections of the dissertation proposal will go directly into the dissertation.

Students are expected to complete the dissertation proposal by March 1st of the eighth semester and defend the proposal by the end of the fourth year. A date for the defense will be determined in conjunction with the committee members. A proposal defense can have three outcomes: “accepted,” “accepted pending satisfactory revisions,” and “rejected.” If the proposal is not accepted (in either form) by the end of the fourth year, the student will be put on academic probation.

Dissertation Defense and Approval

Students with an approved dissertation proposal will proceed to write the dissertation under the supervision of the dissertation adviser and with the advice of the members of the dissertation committee. When the committee members agree that the dissertation is ready to be defended, a final oral examination will be scheduled. Passing this defense and receiving the committee’s approval of the dissertation are the final departmental requirements for the PhD

Departmental Approval

All Graduate School of Arts & Science doctoral candidates must be approved for graduation by their department for the degree to be awarded.

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid

1st Semester/Term		Credits
LING-GA 1210	Phonology I	4
LING-GA 1310	Syntax I	4
LING-GA 1340	Semantics I	4
	Credits	12
2nd Semester/Term
LING-GA 1510	Sociolinguistics	4
2 area or breadth courses		8
	Credits	12
3rd Semester/Term
2 area and breadth courses		8
Other Elective Credits		4
	Credits	12
4th Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits		8
Qualifying Paper 1
	Credits	8
5th Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits		8
	Credits	8
6th Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits		8
Qualifying Paper 2
	Credits	8
7th Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits		8
	Credits	8
8th Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits		4
Dissertation Proposal
	Credits	4
	Total Credits	72

Following completion of the required coursework for the PhD, students are expected to maintain active status at New York University by enrolling in a research/writing course or a Maintain Matriculation (MAINT-GA 4747) course.  All non-course requirements must be fulfilled prior to degree conferral, although the specific timing of completion may vary from student-to-student.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will:

1. Have mastered a wide range of linguistic phenomena, dominant theories, and scholarly literature relevant to their subfield(s).
2. Have mastered the methodological standards in their own subfield(s) and be familiar enough with those of the other fields to appreciate scholarly talks and papers across the discipline.
3. Have demonstrated in their Qualifying Papers (QP) and QP defenses that they are capable of both successfully communicating their research orally and producing written work that is of appropriate quality for publication and conference acceptance.
4. Have made a substantial, innovative contribution to the field.
5. Have engaged in professional practices of the field (e.g. peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and teaching).

Policies

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.

Graduate School of Arts and Science Policies

Academic Policies for the Graduate School of Arts and Science can be found on the Academic Policies page.