Description through Coursework
Through the Masters programme in Linguistics, students are rigorously trained in field linguistics and grammatical description in this programme, as two courses ‘Field Methods’ (offered every year) and ‘Writing Grammars’ provide a methodology for collection and analysis of the linguistic data for the determination of phonological, morphological and syntactic systems of lesser known languages of India. Students work with a native language expert throughout the semester and then undertake a field trip to the region where the language is spoken. Each student then writes a report on a selected aspect of the language being studied.
The Centre’s special focus on field linguistics was conceived, developed, and fostered by Prof. Anvita Abbi, well before such training was considered essential to the practice of linguistics. Her untiring dedication to the cause of the minority and endangered languages of India has resulted in a vast corpus of linguistic information these languages from every language family of India.