Department of Linguistics

India has the oldest and arguably, the richest tradition of linguistic study in the world. The rich multilingual situation of India provides both challenges and opportunities for a well-designed research and training program in Linguistics. The great history, mutual relationship between language families for thousands of years in India provides ample scope to research. The greater tradition of language studies of different languages in India too needs attention. Justification for a systematic study of language in India has not only intellectual, but also pragmatic one in terms of urgent regional, state, and national priorities. India faces many challenges in language education, both in mother tongue and second language teaching.

Integration of the historically underprivileged and marginalized classes and castes into the educational mainstream is a national priority and language issues are a major stumbling block. Many minority and tribal languages await description, documentation and development. The use of India languages as medium of higher education remains an unfulfilled goal, especially, in the sciences. Developments in technology, such as the use of regional language in texting, emails, and the internet, call for precise descriptions of languages and adoption in natural language processing. India needs trained people in different applied fields to meet the present and future need of the society. The linguistics programme and courses are to make students aware of the issues and to train them to work in different areas related.

The rich multilingual situation of India provides both challenges and opportunities for a well-designed research and training programme in Linguistics. India faces many challenges in language education, description and development of minor and tribal languages, higher education in Indian languages, exploring the complex structure of Indian society etc. India has the oldest and arguably, the richest tradition of linguistic study in the world. Justification for a systematic study of language in India has not only intellectual, but also pragmatic one in terms of urgent regional, state, and national priorities. The Department of Linguistics has structured the programmes to train younger generations to meet present needs in the country in various areas. The curricula are prepared to provide basic linguistic theories and to promote to specialise in interested areas in order to make students employable in related areas.

Thrust Areas :

Historical and Comparative Linguistics, Descriptive Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Educational Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics, Endangered Languages, Indian Grammatical tradition