Linguistics and Language Technology

Established in March 2022 as an independent Department, the Department of Linguistics and Language Technology, which was part of the Dept. of English before, offers a two-year Master’s in Linguistics and Language Technology and guides PhD research in the discipline. The Department has expertise in Syntax, Cognitive Linguistics, Philosophy of Language, Language Documentation, Field Linguistics, Phonetics, Phonology, Experimental Phonology, Sociolinguistics, and Computational Linguistics. The Department, in collaboration with the Centre for Endangered Languages, which was established in 2014 at the University and is now attached to it, carries out research in linguistics with a special focus on the languages of the Northeast, perhaps linguistically the richest yet most diverse area in India with its majority of lesser-known or under-studied languages.

Vision

To become a leading Centre of linguistic inquiry and research in the country as well as South East Asia.

Mission

To impart knowledge of all the major branches of modern linguistics and linguistic thought to the students through quality teaching with a learner-centered approach with a well-designed masters course syllabus covering the latest developments in the discipline and encourage excellence in linguistic research; to produce young linguists who will have a clear understanding of how language, ‘the most valuable single possession of the human race’, works and why; who can build and test theories based on accurate descriptions of languages, sound empirical methodologies and results from a range of disciplines; who can meaningfully apply the knowledge of linguistics in modern technology for technology transfer; in language teaching and also in linguistic issues of the society; to encourage study of all aspects of the lesser known and endangered languages, especially the ones spoken in this region, supplementing the efforts towards their preservation and revitalization.

"The limits of my language mean the limits of the world." Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

"Language is the main instrument of man’s refusal to accept the world as it is." George Steiner (1929-2020)

"Language is the autobiography of the human mind." Max Muller (1823-1900)

"Grammar, which can govern even kings." Molière (1622-1673)

"As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man." Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

"Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation." Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)

"Panini’s grammar is the earliest scientific grammar in the world, the earliest extant grammar of any language, and one of the greatest ever written. It was the discovery of Sanskrit by the West, at the end of the 18th century, and the study of Indian methods of analyzing language that revolutionized our study of language and grammar, and gave rise to our science of comparative philology … The study of language in India was much more objective and scientific than in Greece or Rome. The interest was in empirical investigation of language, rather than philosophical and syntactical. Indian study of language was as objective as the dissection of a body by an anatomist." Walter Eugene Clark (1881-1960)

Programmes

Ph.D.
M.A. in Linguistics and Language Technology
CBCS

Syllabus

People

Faculty

Prof. Madhumita Barbora, Ph.D. (TU)
Professor
Profile

Prof. Gautam K. Borah, Ph.D. (NTNU)
Professor and Head
Profile

Arup Kumar Nath, Ph.D. (JNU)
Assistant Professor
Profile

Bipasha Patgiri, Ph.D. (TU)
Assistant Professor
Profile

Amalesh Gope, Ph.D. (IITG)
Assistant Professor
Profile

Staff

Dipali Sona Nayak
Office Assistant

Bijoy Chetri
MTS

Students

Student List

Students Appeal Committee

Facilities

Departmental Library

The Department houses the Centre for Endangered for Languages so that the students, the research scholars, the faculty and the staff of the Department have easy access to the Library of the Centre which is well-stocked with books on all important areas of linguistics, language endangerment, and language documentation. The Department has also easy access to the Centre’s state-of-the-art Linguistic and the Documentation-Archiving-cum-Recording Laboratories, and also to its two advanced multipurpose Seminar-cum Conference Halls. Furthermore, the classrooms of the Department have most facilities of a smart class room.
Snaps of some of the facilities can be found here.

Research Activities

No. of papers published in the year 2020-2021: 13
No. of ongoing research projects: 03 (including the ones of Centre for Endangered Languages)
No. of current Ph.D. scholars: 20

Select Publications (2021)

Barborah, Madumita and Gautam K. Borah (eds). 2021. The Syntax of Biate, Hrangkhol, Khelma, Onaeme, Purum, Liangmai and Yimchunger. Lesser Studies Language Series, Vol III. Guwahati: S.S. Graphics. ISBN:978-93-91902-14-8.
Nath, Arup Kumar, Monali Longmailai and Dhanapati Shrougrakpam (eds). 2021. The Morphology of Biate, Hrangkhol, Khelma, Onaeme, Purum, Liangmai and Yimchunger. Lesser Studies Language Series, Vol II. Guwahati: S.S. Graphics. ISBN: 978-93-91902-12-4.
Patgiri, Bipasha, Amalesh Gope and Bobita Sarangthem(eds). 2021. The Phonology of Biate, Hrangkhol, Khelma, Onaeme, Purum, Liangmai and Yimchunger. Lesser Studies Language Series, Vol I. Guwahati: S.S. Graphics. ISBN: 978-93-91902-13-4.
Patgiri, Bipasha. 2021. “Voicing Assimilation as a Universal Phonological Process: A Case Study of Nalbaria Assamese.” International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics(IJDL) Vol. 50 No. 2 June 2021. pp 134–164. ISSN 0378–2484.
Gope, Amalesh. 2021. "The Phonetics of Tone and Voice Quality Interactions in Sylheti." Languages 6, no. 4: 154. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040154
Mahanta, Shakuntala, Amalesh Gope and Priti Raychoudhury. 2021. "Pitch Range and voice Quality in Dimasa Focus Intonation" Languages 6, no. 4:185. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040185

Contact Us

Head

Prof. Gautam K. Borah

hod_llt@tezu.ernet.in

Office

Office: +91-3712-235220