Syntacticians study how words combine into larger units (phrases and sentences) in human languages and how the combinatorial possibilities determine word order and grammatical relations between parts of a sentence.

Bringing together scholars from a broad range of theoretical perspectives, The Language of Argumentation offers a unique overview of research at the crossroads of linguistics and theories of argumentation.

On the 12th of December, Eleanor Dutton successfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Eleanor on this achievement.

Descriptive linguistics at LUCL covers documentation and descriptive analysis of lesser-studied languages as well as typological and historical comparison.

When researching languages in historical context, our goal is to understand the nature of linguistic variation in the past, and explain the extent to which the socio-cultural context of bygone times contributed to shaping linguistic variation and change.

On the 3rd of September, Adrian Stenton successfully defended a doctoral thesis. Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Adrian on this achievement!

On the 25th of October, Suze Anja Verkade successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Suze Anja on this achievement!

In the first year, the Linguistics programme will provide you with a sound basis for specialisation, while training your academic competences. In the second year, you will choose one of our four specialisations. While focusing on this track in your second and third year, you may also choose electives…

In this dissertation, electrophysiological (EEG) and behavioural measures are used to investigate how allophonic tonal variants and sub-phonemic features are processed during Mandarin and Dutch speech production, visual processing of written words and reading aloud.

At LUCL, researchers aim to contribute to a comprehensive and informed perspective on the human past.

This dissertation contains the further development of a method for linguistic-stylistic research, which provides a systematic means to interpret global impressions of a text through choices in formulation at word- and sentence level.

This research profile area brings together descriptive, historical and theoretical linguistics, as well as psycho- and neurolinguistics.

At LUCL, researchers aim to contribute to a comprehensive and informed perspective on the human past.

Semantics and pragmatics are united in the study of linguistic meaning.

The Leiden HANDS!Lab for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies hosts research activities in the area of sign language linguistics and Deaf studies, with a focus on Africa. In addition to various research projects, we have our Deaf studies lecture Series in International Sign and offer various regular and…

Lecture, Sociolinguistics series

PhD student Camil Staps is continuing his academic career in Berlin. He receives a Rubicon grant to do research there on demonstrative pronouns.

Lecture, LACG Meetings

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University or do you want more information about this specific course? You can get in contact with a student from the Linguistics bachelor's programme directly!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University or do you want more information about a specific course? You can get in contact with a student from the Linguistics master's specialisation directly!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University or do you want more information about the Linguistics master's programme? Chat with a current student to get answers to your questions!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University or do you want more information about the Linguistics master's programme? Chat with a current student to get answers to your questions!

Lecture, Descriptive Linguistics Seminars

In the new video series 'The World of Linguistics', alumni and academics talk about their passion for their field. Student Aline-Priscillia is particularly curious about how language is processed in the brain.

The Centre for Digital Humanities is pleased to announce that we are searching for two PhD Candidates who will carry out research within the Centre for Digital Humanities and the Leiden Centre of Data Science.

Three scholars of the Faculty of Humanities, Ahmad Al-Jallad, Thomas Fossen, and Tsolin Nalbantian, have received a Veni grant to implement their research plans over the coming years.

Interested in studying Modern Languages at Leiden University? Find out what our alumni said about this master's programme.

Your time at Leiden is about more than just studying. Some of your best experiences will stem from being a part of our lively and diverse student community, as well as from life in the beautiful city of Leiden.

The research programme Language Use in Past and Present brings together linguists within LUCL whose central focus is both on actual language data, including language use in earlier stages of the language, and, taking a variationist perspective, on language change in various aspects.

How does the human mind work when it comes to language? Why are some speeches totally persuasive, and others less so? How do children acquire language so effortlessly? How do languages develop over the course of time? How many different speech sounds can humans make? During your BA in Linguistics you…

Knowledge and culture subproject 2:

This project investigates properties of quantity expressions across languages from the perspective of how quantity is represented in the human brain.

Learn the newest insights from established researchers.

Edited by linguists Jenny Audring (Leiden University) and Francesca Masini (University of Bologna), this is a unique handbook with a focus on morphology theories rather than morphological data. It covers a wide array of morphological theories, from traditional twentieth century models to current theoretical…

This is a Special Issue of the peer-reviewed 'Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics (DuJAL)’, which focuses on promoting Dutch and Belgian work in applied linguistics among an international audience, but also welcomes contributions from other countries.

On the 8th of March, Bushra Alkhamees successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Bushra on this achievement!

The edited volume 'Arabic in context: celebrating 400 years of Arabic at Leiden University' edited by Ahmad Al-Jallad is out. The volume contains the contributions to the 2013 conference with the same title, held at Leiden University and was published as part of Brill's the Studies in Semitics Language…

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

The recently published book 'Tense-Switching in Classical Greek A Cognitive Approach' by Arjan Nijk provides classicists and linguists in general with a complete account of the 'historical present' in Classical Greek.

Do you want to apply for the bachelor’s programme Linguistics at Leiden University? Find out how to apply by following the step-by step guide below.

In early 2019, the QANU (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities) published its Report on the Research Review of Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL). This review takes place every 6 years as part of the overall monitoring and safeguarding of research quality in the Netherlands.

To be eligible for Modern Languages at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

In our HANDS!Lab for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies, we run projects pertaining to sign language linguistics with a focus on Africa. In addition, we are running projects on sign language teaching, tactile signing, deaf people’s experiences with the legal system, and deaf history.

Lecture, Special Topics in Dialectology (2023)

Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) has a longstanding tradition in research in the world’s languages and features unique linguistic expertise. At LUCL, we help develop interdisciplinary approaches to linguistic phenomena by facilitating the interaction between data-driven and theory-driven…

At LUCL, researchers have established the Leiden Hands!Lab for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies.

A linguistic test of hypotheses rooted in genetics and archaeology.