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DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND LANGUAGES

LINGUISTICS IN ACTION

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ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Department of Linguistics was established under the aegis of School of Humanities & Languages in the academic session 2019-20. It pioneers to promote the study of language sciences by introducing an interdisciplinary approach. It seeks to understand the properties shared by all natural human languages by addressing the multi-dimensional phenomena related to human speech & language production and perception. The scope of study encompasses the scientific understanding of how languages are structured, how they are processed in the brain, how children and adult learners acquire language, how languages vary and change, how language becomes instrumental in conveying different contexts and cultures; and how it is used by individuals and groups to communicate.

The department offers an extensive field of language study that covers different areas of learning, integrating social and biological sciences. It also provides mathematical and computational orientation to language study; which enables understanding the underlying pattern present in a set of language data. Developing an understanding of human language and its diverse uses and applications in society, the Department lays strong prospects in humanities, education, clinical field and corpus analysis.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME The programme offers a comprehensive knowledge of language sciences and linguistics, enhanced by the rudimentary acquaintance with mathematical modelling, computational techniques and statistical tools for analysing the real-world related language phenomena. It inculcates skills in using technology-based tools for language analysis and language processing. Through the study of formal structure of language, its processing and acquisition at different linguistic levels, the program provides an extensive knowledge of the field. The program aims to train students as professional linguists, fully equipped with analytical and linguistic skills, quantitative and ICT techniques, field methods and indigenous language acquaintance.

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● Programme Offered: 5-Yr. Integrated M. Sc. in Linguistics and Language Sciences

● Students Intake: 30 ● Eligibility: 10+2 (Maths with any other

subjects) or equivalent of any recognized board in India, having 50% marks or equivalent grade in aggregate for General category and 45% marks or equivalent grade for SC/ST/OBC/PWD/EWS candidates

● Admission Procedure: On the basis of performance in the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) or As per University notification

● Fees Structure: Available on the University Website

OBJECTIVES

The 5-Yr. Integrated M. Sc. Programme in Linguistics and Language Sciences is designed to:

➢ Provide fundamental knowledge of linguistics as a scientific study of language marked with practical observation and analysis; and also develop an understanding of underlying linguistic phenomenon.

➢ Introduce the study of major subfields in Linguistics - phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics; along with the origin and evolution of language, structure of sign languages, discovery of the universal aspects of languages, and language families of India and how different languages are grouped.

➢ Acquaint students with theoretical and methodological developments in linguistics accompanied by technological tools for sophisticated training in cognitive linguistics through our focus on psycholinguistics, computational linguistics and corpus linguistics.

➢ Acquaint students with diagnostic tools of assessment and rehabilitation in neurolinguistics and clinical linguistics.

➢ Enable students to apply linguistic theories and empirical research findings in order to address real world challenges related to language use.

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➢ Emphasize the importance of preservation, maintenance and documentation of indigenous language through field linguistics, and train students in how to digitally preserve, analyse and revitalize a language.

➢ Enhance the idea of sustainable development of our linguistic heritage by focusing on language policy, planning and linguistic rights in the context of educational use of language.

FACULTY

The 5-Yr Integrated M.Sc. in Linguistics and Language Sciences is an interdisciplinary programme taught by experienced faculty members who are internationally trained and are a part of global research collectives:

Prof. Supriya Agarwal Dean, School of Humanities and Languages

Email: dean.hl@curaj.ac.in

Dr Dhanapati Shougrakpam, Coordinator, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics M. A. Linguistics; Ph.D. (Manipur University); NET; One-year Diploma in Burmese Language (Manipur University); DOEACC “O” Level; Diploma in Journalism and Mass Media, International Polytechnic for Women, New-Delhi, Email: dhanapati@curaj.ac.in

Dr Sakshi Bhatia, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Postdoctoral Researcher, Jointly at University of Stirling (Scotland) & Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (USA); M.Phil. Linguistics, University of Delhi; M.A. Linguistics, University of Delhi; B.A. English, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi; Certificate & Diploma in French, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi; Email: sakshi.bhatia@curaj.ac.in

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Dr. S Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics; Ph.D. Cognitive Perceptual and Brain Sciences with Specialization Sign Language Linguistics, University College London (UCL), UK; M.A Linguistics, JNU, New Delhi; Diploma in Indian Sign Language Interpretation (DISLI), Rehabilitation Council of India; Email: sharita@curaj.ac.in

Dr. J. Mayuri Dilip, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics; Ph.D. in Linguistics, IIT Madras M.A. Linguistics (University of Hyderabad); Email: mayuri@curaj.ac.in

In addition to courses taught by the above faculty, the programme has interdisciplinary courses in the first 2 years which are taught by the faculty members from the Departments of Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics and Public Administration.

CAREER PROSPECTS A degree in Integrated M. Sc. in Linguistics and Language Sciences opens the door to many careers owing to its emphasis on scientific study of language, critical thinking and simultaneous acquisition of analytical skills. It cultivates expertise in data analysis and presentation by imparting intensive training in the use of statistical methods and IT tools. An interdisciplinary field combining computing and rule-based modelling of natural language, computational linguistics can solve problems in many areas, including artificial intelligence, machine translation, natural language interfaces, document processing, grammar and style checking, and computer-assisted language learning. This degree connects the study of language to real-world problems and their solutions. The integrated knowledge of linguistics and language sciences prepares the students to undertake a wide variety of successful careers adapting for diverse industries. The specialization offered in this program would open career prospects in the following fields:

Education Language teac Teaching

Speech therapy Technical writing

Forensic linguistics Translation

Lexicography Language training

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LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS LAB The Department has a state-of-art Language & Linguistics Lab. The lab is equipped with the latest acoustics/speech processing and language processing software. It provides students with hands-on practical experience in experimental phonetics and for carrying out experimental research in phonetics, acoustics/speech processing and language processing. The Linguistics lab is set up keeping in mind the critical need to provide necessary practical training in various subfields of Linguistics where a multi-functional laboratory (for conducting varied behavioural experiments, high-quality voice and video recording for language documentation, and computational modelling) may be developed. The lab has internet facilities and provides an excellent environment which facilitates learning and research.

PH.D. PROGRAMME The Department of Linguistics at CURAJ has a vibrant research environment. Apart from teaching, the faculty is involved in conducting interdisciplinary research in areas of linguistics. The Department is initiating a PhD programme from the Academic Session 2021-2022. The major thrust areas for research at the Department are:

Phonetics Morphology Syntax Semantics Field and Documentary Linguistics Applied Linguistics Clinical Linguistics Sign Language Linguistics Sign Language Interpretation Studies Computational Linguistics Psycholinguistics Neurolinguistics

The department focuses research work on marginalized and lesser known languages from every language family of India. The PhD program is definitely going to be a rich and rewarding research program open to Post-graduate students from Linguistics and also any allied fields.

EVENTS One Day Workshop on Linguistics and Language Sciences: A Quantifying

Approach, 19th February 2020

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The One Day Workshop on Linguistics and Language Sciences: A Quantifying Approach provided an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to discuss the most recent innovations, trends and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered, and solutions adopted in the fields of linguistics and language sciences. It attempts to venture linguistics and language sciences beyond the classroom, by observing its expansion and application in the real-world language related phenomena. The resource persons for the workshop were: Rajesh Bhatt, Professor, University of Massachusetts; Bidisha Som, Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati; Dr. Samar Husain, Assistant Professor, IIT Delhi; Dr. Sakshi Bhatia, Post-Doctoral Researcher, IIT Delhi/ University of Stirling; Dr. Dhanapati Shougrakpam Assistant Professor, Central University of Rajasthan.

Two-Day Symposium on Recent Theories in Linguistics and their Application

(17th - 18th March 2021) Under the headship of (Late) Dr. Hemanga Dutta, the Department hosted several internationally acclaimed linguists as part of the CURAJ International Linguistics Symposium: Prof. Dafydd Gibbon, Prof. Michael Kenstowicz, Prof. Uma Maheshwar Rao, Prof. Shobha Satyanath, Dr. Utpal Lahiri Prof. Imtiaz Hasnain, Dr. Grace Didla, Dr. Brian Dillon, Prof. G. N. Jha, Dr. Ishani Guha, Dr. Sameer ud Dowla Khan and Dr. Arup Kumar Nath. Students at the Department of Linguistics and linguists at large, have benefited from their expertise. The talks at the symposium ranged from introductory notes to research frontiers on aspects of linguistics and language sciences including Formal and Generative approaches to Language, Experimental Phonetics and Phonological Theories, Loan-word Phonology, Syntax-Semantics interface, Issues in Cognitive and Psycholinguistics, Language variation and Social correlates, Discourse analysis, Linguistic Rights and Linguistic imperialism, and Computational Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence.

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CURAJ Linguistics Talk Series (September 2020 -ongoing)

In view of the courses in Integrated M.Sc. in Linguistics and Language Sciences, the CURAJ Linguistics Talk Series aims to provide academic exposure and give suitable research orientation to the students. The objective of the series is to invite scholarly resource persons from both national and international institutes. Some of the eminent speakers of the earlier enriching talks, have been Dr. Amalesh Gope, Dr. Ivy Hauser, Prof. Pramod Pandey, Prof. Peter K. Austin, Prof. Hemalatha Nagarajan, Dr. Somdev Kar, Dr. Shantanu Ghosh, Dr. Mythili Menon, Prof. Umarani Pappuswamy and Dr. Benu Pareek. CURAJ Linguistics Talk Series was initiated in September 2020, as part of our endeavour to foster active discussion in academia. It has benefitted not only the students from CURAJ, but also students from other Universities and the Linguistics community at large.

To know more about the Department, its Activities and its Academic Programmes Please visit our website:

https://curaj.ac.in/departments/department-linguistics You may also write to:

coord.linguistics@curaj.ac.in