The University of Calcutta or Calcutta University, located in a beautiful campus in Kolkata, is one of the oldest and one of the most prestigious and reputed Universities in India and was established in the year 1857. Recognized as a Five Star University, it’s administered by the State Government. The biggest number of highest scoring PhD graduates is in the Calcutta University. The University of Calcutta conducts an entrance examination for admission to PhD in various disciplines. The exam is held annually.

Structure of the University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam

The question paper will be of two parts – the Compulsory Part A and the Elective type Part B.

Part A will be of 70 marks in total with questions in the following area

• Introduction to Linguistics
• Phonetics
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Semantics
• Syntax

Part B will have a few questions out of which any 2 may be answered from the sections mentioned below.

• Advanced Phonology
• Advanced Syntax
• Historical Linguistics
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Stylistics

Part B will have a total of 30 Marks.

Syllabus for the University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam

First half – General Linguistics

• Different Branches of linguistics
• Definition of language
• Characteristics of language
• Language and Communication
• Scope and nature of linguistics
• Theories regarding the origin of Language
• Levels of language and their hierarchy
• Phonological
• Morphological
• Syntactic and semantic
• Language relation: Areal, typological and morphological, genetic
• Standardisation of language: processes of standardization
• Language as a system of communication:  communicative functions of language: referential, poetic metalinguistic and phatic functions of language, emotive, co native; animal and human communication
• Design features of language
• Features suggested by Hockett
• Language variations: Dialect
• Sociolect
• Idiolect and language
• Register
• Dialect geography and isoglosses
• Style Code
• Pidgins and creoles
• Language: spoken language and written modes and relation between them
• Writing systems: evolution of writing systems
• Language universals and specific properties of language
• Synchronic and Diachronic relations
• Concepts of Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Relations
• Competence and performance
• Langue and parole
• Development of Linguistics from 1786 to 1957
• Innateness hypothesis
• Semantics: Basic concepts

Second half – General Phonetics

• Definition, aims and scope of Phonetics
• Branches of Phonetics
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Organs of speech
• Cavities –Laryngeal, Pharyngeal, buccal and nasal

The four processes of speech production—

• Air-stream process (air stream mechanism)
• Phonation process (States of glottis)
• Articulatory process
• Oro-nasal process: the classification of speech sounds into vowel and consonants (Vocoid and contoid)

Production of consonants

• Places and manners of articulation
• Position of the tongue and the lips
• Classification and description of consonants;
• Production of Vowels
• Classification and description of vowels, cardinal vowels
• Monophthong vs. Diphthong
• Types of diphthongs
• Syllables
• Prosodic features
• IPA
• Graphics and Graphology
• Acoustic Phonetics
• Sound wave
• Frequency
• Amplitude
• Periodic vs. aperiodic
• Complex
• Harmonics
• Overtones
• Fundamental resonance
• Filtering
• Spectrum
• Spectrogram
• Pitch
• Intensity
• Intensity cline
• Formants
• Locus

Phonology (Phonemics)

• Relationship between Phonetics and Phonology (Phonemics);
• Concept of Phonemes
• Phone
• Phoneme
• Allophone
• Phonetic similarity
• Symmetrical patterning
• Economy
• Contrast
• Free variation
• Complementary distribution
• Neutralization
• Archie-phoneme
• Pike’s four principles
• Phonetic and phonemic transcription
• Exercises on phonemic transcriptions
• Preparing phonological description

Eligibility Criteria

The applicants can appear in this examination if they have a Master ’s degree in Linguistics under any approved and recognized University in India.

How to Apply?

The application forms for the exams are to be downloaded from the University’s official website - http://www.caluniv.ac.in/.

The completed application forms must reach the exam authorities before the last date, along with all the required documents. The office of the Department of Linguistics at the University will receive the completed application forms and enclosures.

How to fill the Form?

The University official website will have all the instructions and guidelines, the candidates are going to need so that they can fill the form without errors and with good precision. Before submitting the forms, candidates are recommended to go through the form once more just to be sure that it’s devoid of errors and all the documents included. Visit the website for all details of registering for the exam.

Important Dates (Tentative)

[Please note that we only provide tentative dates based on previous years dates. For exact dates related information it is always best to check official websites only.]

Date of Exam: Last week of January, 2012

Last date of form submission: Second week of January, 2012

List of the University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam Centers

The PhD Linguistics Entrance examination will be held at the Department of Linguistics, University of Calcutta.

Contact Address for University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam

Address: Calcutta University, University of Calcutta, Senate House, 87 /1 College Street, Kolkata - 700 073, West Bengal

Phone: +91-33-22410071

Website: [email protected]   www.caluniv.ac.in

Colleges Accepting the University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam scores

The qualifying candidates of the PhD entrance exam will get seats in the University of Calcutta Institute itself, based on their scores.

Reference Books for the University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam

• Atkinson, M., D. Kilby and I. Roca 1982.
• Foundations of General Linguistics. London: George Allen & Unwin.  Bloomfield, L. 1933.
• Language. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.  Carrol. J. B. 1953.
• The Study of Language. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• An Introduction to General Linguistics. New York etc: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
• Diringer, D. 1962.
• Writing: Its Origin and Early History. New York: Praeger. Diringer, D. 1968.
• The Alphabet. (2 Volumes). (3rd edition). London etc: Hutchinson Fromkin, V. and R. Rodman 1983.
• An Introduction to  Language. 3rd edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Gelb, I.J.1952.
• A Study of Writing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gleason, H.A. 1970.
• An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics. Rev edn. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Greenberg, J. 1966.
• Universals of Language. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.  Haque, A 2001.
• Features and Techniques of Modern Linguistics (Bangla). Dhaka: New Shikha Prakashani. Hockett, C.F.  1958.
• A Course in Modern Linguistics. New York: Macmillan. (Indian edition New Delhi, Calcutta: Oxford and IBH). Hudson, G.2000.
• Essential Introductory Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell. Hughes, J.P.1962.
• The Science of Language. New York:  Random House-Alfred A. Knopf. Jespersen, O. 1921.
• Language.  London: George Allen & Unwin.   Joos, M. (ed.) 1958.
• Readings in Linguistics: Development of Descriptive Linguistics in
• America since 1925. 3rd edn
• New York: American Council of Learned Societies.  Kurath, H.1972.
• Studies in Areal linguistics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Coaching Centers for the University of Calcutta Ph.D. in Linguistics Entrance Exam

• T.I.M.E (Triumphant Institute of Management Education Pvt. Ltd
• Aakash
• Sreekrishna Entrance Coaching Center
• Brilliants Tutorial Pvt.Ltd
• Oasis education services
• Tandem
• Career point
• Narayana IIT Academy
• Sahil study circle
• J .R. S Tutorials
• Hierank School of Competitions
• Pathfinder Academy
• Sri Krishna Academy
• Life Line Competitive and Entrance Coaching Centre
• Manidha Naeyam IAS Coaching Centre
• VPM classes
• GATEIIT

Study Plan

A time allocation strategy can help the candidates cover topics way earlier and hence will have a lot of time for revision. Linguistics is a discipline which requires a lot of hard work, time and reference. So make an apt exam strategy. Linguistics is solely based on your language and writing skills and therefore you should try all methods to improve the same.

How and Where To Get the Results?

For the results of the PhD Entrance examination, visit the official website of the University – www.caluniv.ac.in.

Score Validity

The PhD score for Linguistics in the Calcutta University has a validity of only a single year.