Course description

In the field of study Linguistics and Phonetics, linguistic structures and skills are analysed from various perspectives using various methods. As cognitive, social, cultural, biological and physical aspects play a role in the understanding of language, this subject stands at the interface between the life sciences, social sciences and humanities. The dual-subject master’s degree programme Linguistics and Phonetics in Cologne is research-oriented and combines thorough methodological training with the following specialisation opportunities:

• General Linguistics
• Historical and Comparative Linguistics
• Phonetics

1. Content and study objectives: General Linguistics
The field of study General Linguistics offers a solid education in the description of linguistic phenomena and their theoretical modelling. This centres around the diversity of linguistic structures and functions and thus the question of to what extent languages can differ and which patterns and structures are universal. All linguistic levels are taken into consideration in this, from speech sounds and grammatical forms to conversational interactions.

2. Content and study objectives: Historical and Comparative Linguistics
Historical and Comparative Linguistics looks at various aspects of linguistic change on the basis of philological text analysis in the field of the interrelated Indo-European languages. Students are familiarised with the most important representatives of this language family to create a basis for language comparison and the reconstruction of the common ancestor.

3. Content and study objectives: Phonetics
The objective is a thorough education in laboratory phonology, especially in prosody/intonation and articulatory modelling across languages. In addition to data collection and analysis methods in the field and laboratory, students learn how to independently develop phonological hypotheses and verify them in experiments as well as how to present qualitative and quantitative results.