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Arts & Humanities

Master of Arts Linguistics at University of Ottawa

University of Ottawa, Canada

Programme overview

The MA in Linguistics is an intensive 12-month research-paper programme, offered since 1970, giving a foundation in theoretical linguistics and the empirical sub-disciplines. Coursework and the paper may be submitted in French or English.

Faculty: Faculty of Arts  |  Department: Department of Linguistics  |  Duration: 12 months (three terms full-time)  |  Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

What you will study

Eighteen units: three mandatory courses in phonology (LIN 5315), syntax (LIN 5317) and semantics (LIN 5318), 9 units of options spanning at least two sub-areas (such as psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, language documentation, phonetics), and a roughly 50-page major research paper.

Career pathways

Doctoral studies in linguistics or related fields (audiology, speech-language pathology, forensic linguistics), speech recognition and synthesis, search engine development, professional writing, language teaching and language policy.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

The BA with honours in linguistics (or the equivalent) is required for admission to the master's program. Applicants to the master's program whose BA with honours is in an area other than linguistics may be admitted to a qualifying program which will be established for each student, taking previous preparation into account. This program will comprise up to 30 units to ensure coverage of all the major areas of linguistics. After the requirements of the qualifying program have been satisfactorily fulfilled, students may apply for admission to the regular master's program.

Graduate studies application fee is $125.00, paid on the OUAC website; Telfer EMBA application is $198.00 (amounts effective September 1, 2026). Master's applicants need an honours bachelor's degree or equivalent with an average of 70% (B) over the last 20 courses.

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