Information about the M.A. CIEL
Since 2012 we offer a Master’s Degree in Vergleichende Indoeuropäische Sprachwissenschaft (VIS)/Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL).
Completion of the M.A. requires four semesters of study and comprises 120 ECTS-Points. The curriculum is designed to build on Bachelor Degrees in linguistics, especially general, comparative/historical, and Indo-European linguistics, as well as Bachelor Degrees in the philology and literature of particular modern and/or ancient languages.
The main goals of the degree are to understand language as a dynamic system where diachronically innovative and conservative features are synchronically intertwined, to study language change in its various aspects, and to reconstruct evolving states of languages. The central focus is on the development of the Indo-European language family, whose attestations reach back into the 2nd millennium B.C.E.
For examples of the thematic content of the M.A. and the current relevance of language change, see the article "Das Gedächtnis der Sprache". ("Das Gedächtnis der Sprache", PDF 1,7 mb)
Students interested in applying should contact the secretary sprachwiss@lrz.uni-muenchen.de to arrange an appointment with the following faculty member:
• Prof. Dr. Olav Hackstein (Study/Degrees: Univ. of Pennsylvania 1989, Univ. Freiburg i. Br. 1993, Univ. Halle/Saale 1998)
Mail: olav.hackstein@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
The LMU München requires international applicants to provide proof of German proficiency. Courses are usually taught in German. Please consult the general LMU-Information about German Proficiency.
Further information regarding immatriculation will soon be available here. Until then, questions may be sent to sprachwiss@lrz.uni-muenchen.de.
Application
Enrollment
Enrollment for the new Master's Degree in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics. Degree programs at the LMU.
For further information regarding enrollment, see enrollment deadlines.
Description of the Degree
The Master’s Degree in Vergleichende Indoeuropäische Sprachwissenschaft (VIS)/Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) is a research-oriented M.A. The goal of the degree is to equip students to conduct their own research in the field of comparative/historical linguistics, with a special focus on Indo-European languages. More specifically, students are expected to acquire the following:
• knowledge of the historical grammar of the older-attested Indo-European languages and the philological skills necessary to deal with their texts;
• familiarity with the methodology of comparative/historical and general historical linguistics;
• insights into the principles of language change and the factors involved, the relationship between language history and synchronic grammar, and the relationships between language-internal and language-external factors in change, which involve the history of Indo-European cultures;
• the ability to connect diachronic linguistics with the insights and theories of linguistic typology and general linguistics;
• the skills necessary for linguistic analysis from a comparative/historical perspective and the reconstruction of prehistoric stages of languages;
• the skills necessary to conduct corpus-linguistic analyses of texts.
Scope of the degree
With a curriculum of 120 ECTS-Points the Master’s Degree in Vergleichende Indoeuropäische Sprachwissenschaft (VIS)/Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) represents a full M.A., no complementary minor degree is required. Built into the curriculum, however, is an elective component of 6 or 12 ECTS-Points, which students may fulfill by taking courses offered within the "Profilbereich."
Admission Requirements
Applicants should have a B.A. or equivalent degree amounting to at least six semesters of study in Indo-European Linguistics or a related field.
Course Offerings
The Master’s Degree in Vergleichende Indoeuropäische Sprachwissenschaft (VIS)/Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) combines more general, theory and method-oriented courses with language-specific courses.
Theory and method-oriented courses include
• Methods in comparative/historical linguistics
• Language change and linguistic theory
• Exemplary systematic studies in historical linguistics
Language-specific courses include courses in the historical linguistics and philology of the older-attested Italic, Greek, Germanic, Slavic, Indo-Iranian, and Tocharian languages and dialects.
VIS/CIEL course offerings in the "Profilbereich"
Five of the VIS/CIEL course modules are open to students pursuing other M.A. degrees via the "Profilbereich."