The program emphasizes intellectual breadth and connections integrating many areas of Linguistics, as well as connections with neighboring disciplines.
Faculty expertise in the department spans an unusually diverse range of endeavors. The graduate program accordingly includes a broad range of advanced coursework focusing on analyzing linguistic structure, variation and change, and cognition, using methods including archival research, field methods, experimental and corpus-based analyses, and computational modeling.
The department has an excellent record of placing graduates in professional careers in academia, in private industry (e.g. research and development, technology), and non-profit organizations.
Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. A complete list of graduate academic departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.
Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application can be found on the Graduate Division website.
Admission Requirements
The minimum graduate admission requirements are:
A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and
Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.
For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page. It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here.
In additional to the general materials required by the University we ask that you include:
Writing Sample: A writing sample is required of all applicants. Ideally, this sample would be a research paper on a linguistic topic, but it should in any event demonstrate the applicant's competence in writing analytic expository prose. The writing sample is to be submitted/uploaded with your online application.
For detailed information as to what we are looking for please go to our website at Linguistics.
Doctoral Degree Requirements
All students in the Department of Linguistics graduate program, including those holding a Master’s degree from another institution, must earn a Berkeley MA in Linguistics en route to the PhD.
Research training is part of the MA/PhD program from the start. As part of the MA phase of the program, students write an MA Capstone Paper. The MA Capstone Paper represents a piece of original research, undertaken with guidance from two faculty members. After the MA and before advancing to PhD candidacy, students write a PhD Qualifying Paper, with guidance from two additional faculty members. Throughout the program, students participate in professional activities, including research, writing, and presenting their work at conferences.
The usual timeline of program milestones, including both the MA and PhD portions is as follows:
Year 1: Research training and coursework. This includes LINGUIS 200 (Graduate Proseminar). Towards the end of the year, a required MA Capstone Planning Meeting with (at least) two faculty members launches students into working on their MA Capstone Paper.
Year 2: Continued training and coursework. Completion of MA Capstone Paper.
Year 3: LINGUIS 201 (Advanced Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics), PhD Qualifying Paper and Qualifying Exam. Advancement to PhD candidacy.
Year 4: Annotated Bibliography and Dissertation Prospectus + Prospectus Review, begin dissertation writing.
Students must complete a minimum of 24 semester units of graduate coursework in Linguistics, which include the Proseminar LINGUIS 200, two Methods courses (any two of LINGUIS 240A, LINGUIS 240B, LINGUIS 260 Statistical Methods, or LINGUIS 252 Computational Modeling), and at least one course each from four of the five bins shown below.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Required of graduate students during first year in program. An introduction to linguistics as a profession, its history, subfields, and methodologies. Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
The course is designed to help students become professional linguists by showing them how to write abstracts of papers, how to prepare papers for presentation at conferences, and how to prepare written versions of papers for submission as qualifying papers (and for journal publication), as well as to give students practical experience in the public presentation of their work. Advanced Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: M.A. requirements should be completed or instructor approval
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014
The goal of the course is to help second-year graduate students navigate the graduate program and develop professional skills. Second-Year Proseminar in Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Second-year standing (or equivalent) in the Linguistics graduate program
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014
The course is designed to help students become professional linguists by showing them how to write abstracts of papers, how to prepare papers for presentation at conferences, and how to prepare written versions of papers for submission as qualifying papers (and for journal publication), as well as to give students practical experience in the public presentation of their work. Advanced Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: M.A. requirements should be completed or instructor approval
Credit Restrictions: Course must be taken at the beginning of graduate student's third year.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2018
This will be an advanced course in cognitive linguistics. Among the topics covered will be cognitive bases for aspects of grammatical structure, cognitive constraints on language change and grammaticalization, and motivations for linguistic universals (i.e., constraints on variability). Advanced Cognitive Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 105. Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
This is a graduate-level introduction to psycholinguistics. This course provides an overview of key questions and research findings in psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics focuses on the mechanisms underlying human language production and comprehension. Central to psycholinguistics is the formulation of conceptual and computational models of those mechanisms. Advanced Psycholinguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in Linguistics or consent of the instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Spring 2020
A reading course focusing on theories of speech production, perception, and acoustics as they relate to phonetic and phonological patterns found in the languages of the world. Students write 5-8 "responses" to target articles, and the class as a whole reads background articles and books that place the target articles into their context. Advanced Phonetics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 110. Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
Introduction to phonological theory at the graduate level with an emphasis on cross-linguistic phonological patterns. Advanced Phonology I: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 111. Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020
Continuation of 211A focusing on topics of current interest in phonological theory. Advanced Phonology II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 211A
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2016
The goal of this course is to provide graduate students with advanced practical training in experimental methods within phonetics. This is a rotating topics course. The specific techniques taught will depend on the instructor. Advanced Experimental Phonetics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate student status or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2018, Fall 2015
Examination of complex morphological systems. Issues in the theory of word morphology. Advanced Morphology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 211A. Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
This course aims at developing a solid conceptual, analytical, and empirical foundation for doing research in syntax and semantics. The emphasis is on gaining familiarity with the central empirical phenomena, as well as core theoretical notions, methodology, and argumentation. Advanced Syntax I: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
This course continues 220A with an in-depth examination of selected syntactic and semantic phenomena and the methods of their analysis. The phonomena investigated varies with each offering of the course. Advanced Syntax II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 220A
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2021
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the core principles and empirical issues addressed by formal semantics and to familiarize them with the analytical tools involved in conducting research in this domain. The focus of this class is truth-conditional aspects of meaning and the compositional interpretation of phrases and sentences. Students will develop skills in semantic analysis and argumentation by focusing on semantic questions that arise in the analysis of a range of different phenomena, including quantification, the semantics of definite/indefinite descriptions, and relative clauses. Advanced Formal Semantics I: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2023
Students will continue to be introduced to various foundational issues and results in formal semantics. This course will provide a thorough introduction to intensionality as a phenomenon of natural language, as well as the core techniques and results of intensional (possible-world) semantics and the semantics of tense. In particular, we will examine in depth the semantics of sentential complements, the de re / de dicto distinction, modal auxiliaries, and tense and aspect morphemes. We will pay special attention to the ways that languages may vary with respect to these phenomena. Students will gain exposure to primary literature in the field of semantics through: key course readings, in-class presentations and final research project Advanced Formal Semantics II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 221 or permission of the instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2021, Spring 2019
This course is a graduate level introduction to linguistic typology that covers quantitative, formal, and functional approaches to the typology of morphosyntactic and phonological phenomena. Students will be introduced to: 1) influential frameworks and tools for typological research including implicational hierarchies, semantic maps, and combinatorial typologies; 2) the status of universals in typology and formal, functional, and diachronic explanations for universals; 3) key topics in typology, including word order correlations and sampling methodology, grammatical relations typology, areal typology, and phonological typology. Advanced Linguistic Typology: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2015
Construction grammar arose in cognitive linguistics from phenomena showing how thought structures language and how language also structures thought, and from grammatical phenomena that could not be accounted for by transformational grammars. Over the past three decades two major theoretical approaches have evolved: One based on embodied cognition results, conceptual metaphor, and the neural modeling of brain mechanisms necessary to account for thought and language; and another theoretical approach that is disembodied, purely formal, and uses feature structures and head-driven grammars. The course will discuss these and other approaches.
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2013, Spring 2012
A survey of Indo-European (IE) linguistics, intended for general linguists interested in learning about the most fully developed sub-area of historical linguistics and for language-area specialists interested in how specific language areas relate to IE as a whole. All areas of the field will be surveyed (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexical semantics, cultural reconstruction, and subgrouping and diversification), with special emphasis on issues of broad current research interest. Indo-European Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: An introductory historical linguistics course or a good knowledge of an older Indo-European language
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
Training in elicitation and analysis of linguistic data in a simulated field setting. The same language is used throughout the year. Linguistics 240B is the continuation of 240A. Advanced Field Methods: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 211A and Linguistics 220A. Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of session per week
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
Training in elicitation and analysis of linguistic data in a simulated field setting. The same language is used throughout the year. Linguistics 240B is the continuation of 240A. Advanced Field Methods: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Linguistics 240A
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of session per week
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
This course provides a graduate-level introduction to the relation of language and cognition, through the lens of computation. We will explore universal aspects of cognition that underlie language, and the effect of one's native language on cognition. We will do this by: (1) reading a mixture of classic and recent papers on these issues,(2) replicating or extending computational analyses in those papers,(3) identifying interesting questions that are left open by the material covered, and (4) designing and conducting research to answer those open questions. Language, Computation, and Cognition: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate students in linguistics or one of the other cognitive sciences or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2010
Graduate level survey of anthropological linguistics which seeks to understand the role of culture in linguistic meaning, language use, and the development of linguistic form and, conversely, the role of linguistic form and structure in social action and in cultural practices. Anthropological Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2008
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper. Sociolinguistic Analysis: Variation: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2008
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper. Sociolinguistic Analysis: Language Contact: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2010, Spring 2009, Spring 2005
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper. Sociolinguistic Analysis: Language and Gender: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2009, Fall 2007
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper. Sociolinguistic Analysis: Conversation/Discourse Analysis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2008
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper. Sociolinguistic Analysis: Endangered Languages: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2019
This course provides consistent engagement with indigenous languages, speakers, and texts. It gives an overview of historical and social contexts that produce language endangerment and loss; definitions and debates over terms and methods associated with language revitalization; ethical and methodological issues in language revitalization work; practical skills in language documentation and linguistic analysis; and case studies and outcomes in language revitalization.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2022
This is the core course for graduate students who intend to complete the interdisciplinary Designate Emphasis in Indigenous Language Revitalization, and is open to non-DE graduate students as well. The course will provide consistent engagement with indigenous languages, speakers, and texts. The course will provide an overview of historical and social contexts that produce language endangerment and loss; definitions and debates over terms and methods associated with language revitalization; ethical and methodological issues in language revitalization work; practical skills in language documentation and linguistic analysis; and case studies and outcomes in language revitalization. Indigenous Language Revitalization: Contexts, Methods, Outcomes: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2021
This course provides a graduate-level introduction to computational linguistics. We will explore computational principles and methods that cross-cut different branches of linguistics, and will apply those principles to replicate and extend computational analyses in a selection of published papers. COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: Familiarity with computational principles and methods in linguistics, and experience in conducting computational analyses.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: The course is open to graduate students in linguistics or related disciplines. Access for other students is by permission of instructor. Some basic prior experience with programming is necessary, but no prior experience with computational linguistics is required. Starter code for homework assignments will be provided, giving students a basis on which to build further. Programming will be in Python
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course is an introduction to the study of the linguistic and social phenomena that arise when speakers of different languages come in contact with one another, or when a community of speakers makes use of multiple languages. We will attend closely both to the grammatical dimensions of language contact processes and outcomes, and to the socio-historical and cultural conditions under which these processes take place. A major focus of the course will be to critically examine the notion that language contact gives rise to a set of clearly distinguishable language types (pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages), as well as the notion that each of these types arise under determinate socio-historical conditions. Language Contact: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
This course is a graduate-level introduction to the major theories and methodologies of sociolinguistics, which addresses the relationship between linguistic structure and the social and cultural contexts in which language is embedded. The course focuses on the variationist tradition but includes readings from allied areas (linguistic anthropology, the sociology of language, etc.). Advanced Sociolinguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course addresses the theoretical status and grammatical locus of sociolinguistic variation and develops practical research skills in the quantitative analysis of sociolinguistic variables. Advanced Sociolinguistics: Variation: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites:LINGUIS 255 or permission of instructor (graduate standing)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2018, Spring 2015
An analysis of the language structure of a particular language. The language investigated changes from year to year. Structure of a Particular Language: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 211A and 220A
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of session per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Mentor undergraduates in research on projects in the subfields of linguistics, sponsored by a faculty member; written report required. Research Mentorship: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Course may be repeated for credit, but credit for the instructional training portion is to be given only once for each individual course taught by a T.A. For graduate students currently serving as T.A.s in the Department's undergraduate courses. Two units of credit are given for the teaching experience each time a student serving as T.A. enrolls in this course; two more units are given for teaching instruction, this taking the form of weekly consultations between instructors and their T.A.s. Teaching Practice and Instruction: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
A teaching-methods "clinic" for first-time Linguistics GSI's. Sessions will deal with the presentation of linguistic concepts in each of the foundation courses, the creation of homework assignments and examination, policies and practices regarding correction of students' work, grading, and feedback. Training for Linguistics Teaching Assistants: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 110, 120 and 130 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Linguistics/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2012
Individual study in consultation with the major field adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: One full year of graduate work at Berkeley or consent of graduate adviser
Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for doctoral degree.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Colloquium lecture presentations by Berkeley faculty and students, and invited visitors, on topics in language and linguistics. Department students and faculty offer feedback, suggestions, and critiques on work in progress. Colloquium: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of colloquium per week
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