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Dec 07, 2025
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2025-2026 University Catalog
Linguistics, PHD
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 Return to: Undergraduate Programs List
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About the Program
Purdue’s Department of Linguistics offers a wide range of courses leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. M.A. and Ph.D. curricula encourage students to tailor their linguistics studies to their interdisciplinary interests. The department offers a thorough grounding in the foundations of linguistics and opportunities to develop research and teaching skills, while also allowing students to specialize in an area of interest. One of the main strengths of the department is the analysis of bilingual language systems. The department provides advanced training in the analysis and characterization of the linguistic and psycholinguistic development of bilingualism, broadly construed, in young children and adults. How does the bilingual mind process, develop, and maintain multiple linguistic systems? What characteristics do these systems have and why; how do they affect each other and relate to each other in the lifespan of bilingual speakers? What tools can be used to assess the degree of language acquisition and to facilitate language learning? These are vital questions in current linguistics research and the Purdue Department of Linguistics is uniquely situated to address them. Program Website Program Requirements
90 Credits Required (30 credits from a Master’s may be applied.) Required Courses (30-60 credits)*
*If not (partially) completed by 30 credits of coursework from a Master’s degree. Core Courses (9-27 credits)*
*Students with an MA who have already taken LING 511, 521, 563, 565, and both tiltes of 598 do not need to repeat these courses. LING 541 and 531 or 532 are still required. Preliminary Project Seminar (6 credits)
Students must register for 3 credits of LING 69000 for each of the projects. Both projects may be supervised by the same professor or by two different professors, depending on the advice of the student’s committee. The exact content of the projects should be determined through consultation between the student and the committee. The projects can differ in nature: one might focus on a critical discussion of relevant literature while the other focuses on designing and carrying out an experiment, both might focus on two separate research projects, or any other structure that the student’s committee considers appropriate. Ideally, the projects should lead the student into the dissertation topic; in many cases, material from the projects is included in the dissertation itself. The two projects, taken together, should demonstrate (a) mastery of the literature, (b) methodological competence, and (c) the ability to conceive of and carry out original research independently. Students have the option, but are not required, to use material from the MA thesis as one of their preliminary projects, but only if their committee feels that the material fits with the goal of progressing towards the dissertation. If material from the thesis is used, the student must revise the material into a scholarly paper and submit the paper to a journal for review. The time spent on this revision counts as the work done for one of the 3-credit 69000 seminars taken. Area Specific Courses (24 credits)*
*If not partially completed by coursework from a Master’s degree (typically 6 credits would be fulfilled by MA coursework). The area specific requirement refers to courses specific to language areas or courses related to the student’s sub-concentration at the 500/600 level (Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, Pragmatics, Semantics, etc.). These courses must be selected with the advice and guidance of the student’s major professor. See requirements for each specific area listed below. Dissertation Research (30-60 credits)
Additional Requirements
Language requirements: Students in the PhD program must typically demonstrate proficiency in three natural languages other than English. Proficiency in two of these languages may be demonstrated by the means described below in (1.) The third language must be a ‘less commonly taught language’; this requirement is described below in (2.) To the greatest extent possible, all three languages should be ones which are pertinent to the student’s program or projected area of research and must be approved by the student’s Advisory Committee. Exceptions may be made by the student’s advisory committee with the approval of the Graduate Committee. 1. Proficiency may be established by: a. By passing the fourth semester course of a regular language sequence at Purdue with a grade of ‘C’ or higher or the equivalent transferred from another institution of higher education.
b. By passing the appropriate 60300 or 60500 course at Purdue with a grade of ‘C’ or higher (for those languages in which these courses are available).
c. By satisfying the foreign language requirement at another graduate school and transferring the record to Purdue.
d. By examination (for those languages in which an examination is available).
e. By scoring 600 or more on an Educational Testing Service Graduate School Foreign Language Test (for languages where these tests are available).
f. By being a native speaker of the language (with appropriate documentation as required by the Graduate School). Note: Courses taken in the process of satisfying (a) and (b) above cannot be used on the Plan of Study. 2. Less-Commonly-Taught Language Requirement: a. Students in the Ph.D. program are expected to demonstrate knowledge of a less-commonly-taught natural language. The language must be approved by the student’s Advisory Committee.
b. Knowledge may be established by passing a course on the language (including a field methods course) with a grade of B or higher at Purdue or the equivalent transferred from another institution of higher education, by examination (for those languages in which an examination is available), or by being a native speaker of the language.
c. Courses taken to satisfy this requirement can be used on the Plan of Study if they otherwise meet the criteria of the Graduate School. The language used to satisfy this requirement must be different from the language(s) used to satisfy requirement above. Linguistic Selectives (xx credits)
Concentrations
Departmental concentrations: - French Linguistics
- German Linguistics
- Japanese Linguistics
- Spanish Linguistics
- Teaching English as a Second Language
Interdisciplinary concentrations: Additional Information
- Students must complete at least 6 credits per semester. International students must complete 9.
- One third of the coursework must be taken during continuous residence at Purdue University.
- The following do not count for credit toward the degree or toward the requirement and cannot be used on the Plan of Study: bibliographic skills courses, proseminars, courses taken to satisfy the Foreign Language Proficiency Requirement, and audited courses.
- All required coursework must be completed before taking the Preliminary Examination.
- The Foreign Language Proficiency Requirement must be satisfied before taking the Preliminary Examination.
- No more than three credit hours of individual directed reading courses numbered 590 may be included in the Plan of Study.
GPA Requirements
Students are expected to maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4-point scale) in their coursework. Those who fail to maintain the minimum cumulative average for two consecutive semesters will likely be dropped from the program. Satisfactory progress is reviewed each semester; students failing to make satisfactory progress will receive written notification from the Director of Graduate Studies. Graduate Programs Disclaimer
- The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Students should consult with their advisor/department for more information.
- Not all graduate programs may be actively recruiting students and course modality availability may vary.
- Please refer to the Explore Graduate Programs website for a list of currently available graduate programs.
- Transfer credit policy: Credits earned for graduate study at other universities (both domestic and international) may be applied toward an advanced degree. Only credit hours associated with graduate courses for which grades of B- or better were obtained will be eligible for transfer. Any additional conditions under which credit transfers may be made are determined by the various departments.
- Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
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