A landscape with an enormous diversity 

The linguistic landscape of Europe is a fascinating one. On the one hand there is enormous diversity: with languages as diverse as Russian, Spanish and Swedish the linguistic differences seem to be immense. On the other hand, the long history of expansion and subsequent withdrawal of populations like the Romans, Celts, Ottomans and the Slavs have led to a mixture of recurrent linguistic properties across Europe or parts of Europe. Furthermore, due to its long colonial history many European languages are now world languages too, which adds a global dimension to the study of European languages and the way they interact with other languages.

Linguistics of European languages at the UvA

At the University of Amsterdam you get the opportunity to study the languages of Europe in both a broad and a narrow sense. You specialise in the linguistics of one of the European languages or language families, but you also add your own individual touch to the study programme. The language (groups) that you can choose from for your specialisation are:

• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Scandinavian
• Slavonic
• Spanish

You then add to this a second component, which can be either thematic or involve a second language. Thematic expansions include Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Phonetics, or Theoretical Linguistics. You can choose a second language if your proficiency in that language is sufficient. For example, you could combine your specialisation in Russian with a selection of topics in English Linguistics. Finally, if you would like to prepare for a future in education, you may combine your specialisation in the linguistics of a European language with a selection of courses on the literature of that language.

Degree certificate

Linguistics of European Languages is an accredited degree programme of Linguistics. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a legally accredited Master’s degree in Linguistics and the title Master of Arts (MA).