MA Linguistics Course Admission, Colleges, Distance Education, Syllabus, Exams, Jobs 2023

MA Linguistics or Master of Arts in Linguistics is a 2-year full-time postgraduate program. Linguistics is a scientific study of human language with its nature, structure, and variation that includes a comprehensive and thorough study of core areas.

The syllabus of MA Linguistics include phonetics and phonology, syntax, sociolinguistics, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics.

Check out the top MA Linguistics Colleges in India.

Basically, it is a study of the relationship between written and spoken languages. More clearly it is the study of language which identifies the common element connecting the languages and draws its relevance from Archaeology, Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, English, Computer Science, and almost every other subject.

Key Highlight for MA Linguistics

Full-Form: Master of Arts in Linguistics
Duration: 2 years
Eligibility: Graduation with minimum 50% aggregate from a recognized university.
Admission Process: Entrance Exam/ Merit-based
Top Institutes: JNU, BHU, Calcutta University, Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi University, etc
Average Course Fees: INR 4K - INR 15K
Job Options: Speech Trainer, Speech Therapist, Linguist, Proofreader, Editor, Teacher, Lecturer, Dictionary Compiler, Content Writer, Language Coordinator, etc.
Average Salary: INR 3 Lakhs - INR 8 Lakhs
Higher Studies: PhD and MPhil

To pursue this course, the candidate should have graduated in any stream from a recognized university, with a minimum aggregate score of 50%. The admission is totally based on the candidate’s performance in a relevant entrance test as also the aggregate score in graduation. Candidates who want to join this course should have good interpersonal and communication skills.

The tabulation below is the list of Top MA Linguistics colleges in India according to NIRF Ranking:

NIRF Ranking 2021	Name of College	Admission Process	Average Annual Fees	Average Placement Offer
2	Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi	Entrance Exam	INR 1,260	INR 7.8 Lakhs
3	Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi	BHU PET	INR 4,710	INR 4.5 Lakhs
7	Calcutta University, Kolkata	Entrance Exam	INR 4,480	INR 8.20 Lakhs
-	Lucknow University, Lucknow	Entrance Exam	INR 8,240	INR 5 Lakhs
-	Barkatullah University, Bhopal	Merit-based	INR 4,050	INR 5.25 Lakhs

This course is offered by various institutes and the fees vary according to the institute. The average tuition fee charged for the course in India ranges between INR 4K - 15K for a span of 2 years. The course is also available through distance education.

ALERT: The DUET registration dates have been extended till July 18, 2020. The candidates can check the eligibility and application process.

There is a huge scope after MA Linguistics. The top area of employments/ recruiting areas is media transcription, media organizations, corporate communication, government language department, etc. The average annual salary offered to such professionals ranges between INR 3 and 8 Lakhs, increasing with the candidate’s experience and expertise.

After completion of the course, the graduates can go for higher studies and do research work by taking up courses like Ph.D. and M.Phil.

MA Linguistics Admission Process

The admission process generally varies across colleges. Most of the institutes offer admission to students based on their performance in a relevant entrance test. College Application forms for admission are available both offline and online.

The admission application form can be collected from the college or can be applied online by going through the respective university’s official website.
The candidates will then have to sit for the entrance exam.
A merit list will be released after evaluating the scores of the candidates in the entrance exam.
If the candidate has cleared the cut-off then they will be shortlisted for further admission procedures.

MA Linguistics Eligibility

Candidates should have passed a graduation degree in any stream from any of the recognized universities/colleges of the country.
As a qualifying criterion, some colleges/ universities require a minimum of 50% marks in graduation to get admission into this course.
Some relaxation is given to the reserved categories.

MA Linguistics Entrance Exams

No separate national-level or state-level MA Linguistics exams are conducted. Institutes like DU and BHU conduct department level examinations. Other institutes that conduct internal exams include Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Listed below are some of the popular MA Linguistics entrance exams.

Exam Name	Exam Date
BHU PET	Click here
JNU Entrance Exam	Click Here
DU Entrance Exam	Click Here

How to Prepare for a MA Linguistics Entrance Exams?

The syllabus for MA Linguistics entrance exams will vary from college to college. Students should consider buying study material and practice material of MA Linguistics entrance exams so that they prepare well for the same. Linguistics subject books also constitute a good study material for these exams.

Some points that are useful while preparing for MA Linguistics entrance exams are:

Students should know the entire syllabus of the entrance exam which they are going to give because some of these exams are purely based on language-based knowledge.
Students should consider analyzing previous year question papers for the reference.
Students should also focus on preparing a language Portfolio that might be considered during the admission process.

How to get admission in a good MA Linguistics college?

To get admission in top MA Linguistics colleges, the following points must be kept in mind:

The candidate should start working on a personal interview round after checking that they are eligible to apply for the MA Linguistics program.
A good score in the qualifying exams is the basic selection procedure followed by a personal interview in which the panel will judge your interests and skills.
Keep your portfolio updated and ready. Learn new language-based skills and techniques, and include them in your portfolio.

MA Linguistics: What is it about?

MA Linguistics is the study of language which identifies the common element connecting the languages and draws its relevance from archaeology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, sociology, English, computer science, and almost every other subject.
It offers an understanding of the basis of valuable insight into the relationship between language, culture, and society, analytical and linguistic skills, and skills in the practical application of theories to the social context by introducing different aspects to the analysis of language use.
This kind of modernized linguistics is the scientific study of all aspects of the world’s languages from their sound systems and grammatical structure through the interaction of language with culture.
The discipline includes three broad areas: theoretical Linguistics (phonology, syntax, semantics), psycholinguistics (language acquisition, language processing), and language Use (discourse studies, bilingualism, phonetics, historical linguistics).

MA Linguistics: Course Highlights

Candidates wanting to pursue this course can check out the important details about MA Linguistics, mentioned in brief in the table mentioned below.

Course Level	Postgraduate
Full Form	Master of Arts (Linguistics)
Duration	2 years
Examination Type	Semester-based
Eligibility	Graduation from a recognized university with a minimum of 50%
Admission process	Merit-based/ Entrance Examination
Course Fee	INR 4K – 15K
Average Salary	INR 3 – 8 LPA
Top Recruiters	Hindustan Times, India Today, NDTV, Times of India, Times Internet, etc.
Job Profiles	Speech Trainer, Speech Therapist, Linguist, Proofreader, Editor, Teacher, Lecturer, Dictionary Compiler, Content Writer, Language Coordinator, etc.
Areas of Employment	Translation Departments, Speech & Hearing Centers, media transcription, News & Media organizations, corporate communication, government language department, etc.

Why study MA Linguistics?

The study of MA Linguistics includes a wider range of performance possibilities and opportunities in the field of languages.

MA Linguistics degree serves as a basis for further higher studies and research in this field such as Ph.D. and M.Phil. Degree in Linguistics.
On completion of this degree, a student can apply for the NET or JRF exam; the success in these exams makes teaching or research as good options.
The MA Linguistics degree study not only teaches the specific language but also focuses on the culture, literature, and tradition of the country of its origin.
After completing MA (Linguistics), a student can explore the vast subject of the origin of languages and analyze the common thread connecting them. Moreover, the degree study enables the student to understand the mysteries of speech, sound, words, and sentences, which are the building blocks of a language.

Having a degree in MA Linguistics will provide them an edge in the career which not only be beneficial for them but also to their work as well.

MA Linguistics VS MA Applied Linguistics

MA Linguistics Course Comparison

MA Linguistics vs MA Applied Linguistics

MA Linguistics and MA Applied Linguistics may sound very similar, but yet there are a few differences that the students should know before choosing a course among these.

Check out the top MA Applied Linguistics College in India.

Parameters	MA Linguistics	MA Applied Linguistics
Full-Form	Master of Arts (Linguistics)	Master of Arts (Applied Linguistics)
Overview	This is a study that deals with human languages, the methodology for exploring the structure of a particular language, how language varies over time and in different communities, how language is learned and used for communication.	This is a study that deals with practical issues in the community related to language. Some of the issues may be learning of second/ foreign language, multilingualism, language policy, preservation and revival of endangered languages, treatment of language difficulties, etc.
Duration	2 years	2 years
Eligibility	Graduation with a minimum of 50% from a recognized institute	A Bachelor’s degree with 50% marks
Admission Process	Merit-based / Entrance Exam	Entrance Exam
Exam Type	Semester	Both Semester and Annual-based
Average Fees	INR 4K- 15K	INR 3K – 15K
Average Salary	INR 3 – 8 LPA	INR 4 – 7 LPA
Job Profiles	Speech Trainer, Speech Therapist, Linguist, Proofreader, Editor, Teacher, Lecturer, Dictionary Compiler, Content Writer, Language Coordinator, etc.	Proofreader, Teacher, Linguist, Editor, Lecturer, Speech Trainer, Dictionary Compiler, Speech Therapist, etc.
Areas of Employment	Translation Departments, Speech & Hearing Centers, media transcription, News & Media organizations, corporate communication, government language department, etc.	Civil services, marketing, journalism, law and IT, Media organizations, corporate communication, government language department, etc.

MA Linguistics Salary Vs MA Applied Linguistics Salary

MA Linguistics Top Colleges

The tabulation below shows the best MA Linguistics colleges and universities that offer the course full-time.

NIRF Ranking 2021	Name of College	Location	Average Annual Fees	Average Placement Package
2	Jawaharlal Nehru University	New Delhi	INR 1,260	INR 7.8 Lakhs
3	Banaras Hindu University	Varanasi	INR 4,710	INR 4.50 Lakh
7	Calcutta University	Kolkata	INR 4,480	INR 8.20 Lakhs
11	University of Delhi	New Delhi	INR 7,600	INR 4.30 Lakh
13	Bharathiar University	Coimbatore	INR 10,000	INR 4 Lakhs
17	Aligarh Muslim University	Aligarh	INR 11,570	INR 5 Lakh
65	Mumbai University	Mumbai	INR 12,405	INR 5 Lakhs

Click Here: Top MA Linguistics Colleges in India

MA Linguistics College Comparison

The tabulation below shows the comparison made among the three top MA Linguistics colleges in India.

Specification	BHU Varanasi	DU New Delhi	AMU Aligarh
About	Banaras Hindu University, a public university from Varanasi is one of the oldest universities in the country. It is one of the best colleges to pursue a degree in Linguistics.	The University of Delhi is a central/ public university from New Delhi. One of the largest and most popular institutes, MA Linguistics is one of the degrees that attracts many candidates each year.	Aligarh Muslim University is established in 1875, which has students from around the world. Its Linguistics degree is highly ranked in India.
Ranking 2021	NIRF: 3	NIRF: 11	NIRF: 17
Average Fees	INR 4,710	INR 7,600	INR 11,570
Average Placement Offered	INR 4.50 Lakh	INR 4.30 Lakh	INR 5 Lakh
Top Companies Visited	Mother dairy, C.P. milk, Banas Dairy, IDBI Banks, Ujjivan Bank, etc.	ABP News, Amazon, British Telecom, IndiGo Airlines, Infosys, etc.	IBM, TCS, ICICI Bank, ONGC, L&T, Kotak Securities, Genpact, etc.

MA Linguistics Syllabus

MA Linguistics Syllabus is almost the same in all the colleges, apart from the choice of electives which can be opted by candidates as per their interest.

The table below shows common subjects that are included in the structured MA Linguistics syllabus and subjects included in it:

1st Semester	2nd Semester
Phonetics	Phonology
Morphology	Syntax
Language Teaching Methods	Semantics I
Sociolinguistics	Language Testing
Historical and Comparative Linguistics	Psycholinguistics
-	Writing Systems
3rd Semester	4th Semester
Semantics II	Dissertation
Pragmatics	Advanced Syntax
Natural Language Processing	Computational Morphology
Language Processing, Parsing, and Generation	Syntactic Models
Translation	Corpus Linguistics
Philosophical underpinnings of Modern Linguistics	Language Universals and Typology
Indian Grammatical Traditions	Child Language Acquisition
Sociology of Language	History of Linguistics
Applied Linguistics	Semiotics
Lexicography	Neurolinguistics
Stylistics	-

MA Linguistics Books

Tabulated below are some of the MA Linguistics subject books that can help students to have a broader and better understanding of the course. The books mentioned below will also help the students in cracking various MA linguistics exams.

Name of the Book	Author
An Introduction to Language	Victoria A Fromkin
Course in General Linguistic	Ferdinand de Saussure
The Complete Guide to Neuro-linguistic programming	Louis Sinclair
Syntactic Structures	Noam Chomsky
Linguistics Terms and Concepts	Geoffrey Finch

MA Linguistics Job Prospects and Career Options

Students are so much interested nowadays to enter this field and follow their passion in the field of linguistics.

After this post-graduation interested candidates can also pursue a Ph.D. or M.Phil. in linguistics as their higher studies.
Post-graduates who completed this course are furnished with valuable intellectual skills, such as critical thinking, analytical reasoning, argumentation, and clarity of expression along with skills for making insightful observations, generating predictions, drawing conclusions, making arguments, and communicating such findings to a huge community.
Graduates can pursue jobs in publishing and teach in government administration, proof-reading and editing, dictionary-compiling, speech and language therapy, computer programming, and information technology.

The following table shows some of the major areas where you can find employment after pursuing the MA Linguistics degree:

Job profile	Job Description	Average Annual Salary
Dictionary Compiler	Dictionary Compilers collect data from a range of sources, including literature, newspapers, online journals, blogs, discussion groups, and transcripts of television and radio, for evidence of meanings and usages of a word or phrase. They are also creating and sourcing the add-on material and marketing the whole package online.	INR 5.20 Lakh
Proofreader	Proofreaders are in charge of making sure that the text of any product that involves writing (such as magazines, newspapers, and books) is free of any errors, and also they ensure that texts are engaging and accessible to the readers. This consists of grammatical correction and spelling errors, while copy-reading involves looking at the work and fixing any problems with style and tone.	INR 4 Lakh
Teacher	As a teacher, their job is to teach multilingual subjects in schools/ colleges or any govt. or private Linguistic academy or institutions.	INR 3.25 Lakh
Linguist	The duties of a Linguist depend on the organization they are working for. One of these duties may be to act as an Interpreter or Translator. Linguists also can work in courts, interpreting the proceedings between court officials and people whose English skills are limited.	INR 4.50 Lakh
Speech Therapist	They are dealing with a various group of clients, including people with physical and learning disabilities, hearing loss/deafness, psychiatric disorders, or dementia. Usually, they work as part of a multidisciplinary team besides other health professionals,	INR 6.5 Lakh

MA Linguistics Future Scope

Candidates having an MA linguistics degree can be a great opportunity for pursuing their careers in publishing, education, media, communication, social services, computer languages, voice analysis research, communicative disorders, and other language-related fields. There has been a surge of demand from various industries for competent linguists in recent years.

Teaching can be one of the best options, which is provided by linguistics studies. There are openings in schools, colleges, and other institutions that carry out foreign language training/teaching programs.
Linguists are hired by several government agencies for supervising language-training programs whereas they carry out research on various languages, or to work in specialized fields.
Lexicographers always play a major role in the publishing of dictionaries (electronic as well). They are responsible for such matters as the definition of grammatical terms, pronunciation, various languages’ dialectical variation, and etymology.
The role of linguists in speech pathology and audiology is varied. They have improved ways of analyzing and evaluating the language disintegration associated with various disorders through research efforts such as aphasia, dyslexia, etc.
Linguists always have an important role in solving certain criminal cases. In such cases, Investigation agencies do take the help of a linguist, which involves speaker identification. A linguist proves to be a technically trained manpower for such investigations as acoustic phonetics is one of the significant courses of linguistics study.
Translation studies are part and parcel of the linguistics program. A linguist is trained in translation techniques, which makes them eligible for translator’s posts both in public and private sectors.

FAQs

Ques. What is the duration of the MA Linguistics program?

Ans. The program duration is 2 years (or four semesters).

Ques. Is there any entrance exam for MA Linguistics?

Ans. Admission and Selection in the MA Linguistics course occur through either Merit or Entrance Exams. There are colleges which conduct entrance tests, followed by a Personal Interview.

Ques. How much is the salary after the MA Linguistics course?

Ans. The average starting salary ranges from INR 3 - 8 Lakhs per annum.

Ques. What are the top colleges for MA Linguistics?

Ans. The top institutes and colleges for MA Linguistics are Banaras Hindu University, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, Aligarh Muslim University, and Calcutta University Kolkata among others.

Ques. Which job profiles are available for the MA Linguistics graduates?

Ans. Students of MA Linguistics can work as a Proofreader, Linguists, teacher, Speech Therapist, Dictionary Compiler, etc.

Ques. What is the annual average fee charged for the MA Linguistics program?

Ans. The annual average fee at the top MA Linguistics colleges is between INR 4K to INR 15 Lakhs for 2 years.

Ques. What is the scope after the MA Linguistics degree?

Ans. Students can choose for higher education like they can pursue higher education like M.Phil. / Ph.D. or they can engage themselves as a Teacher, Translator, Lexicographer, Linguists, etc.