Chinese Linguistics

Book cover of NCCL 20 proceedings
Graduate instruction and research in Chinese Linguistics at The Ohio State University date back to the early 1960’s, with renowned linguists who have taught here over the decades, including William S-Y. Wang, Frank F-S. Hsueh, Eugene Ching, Timothy Light, and James H-Y. Tai. Presently, the Chinese linguistics faculty consists of Majorie K. M. Chan and Zhiguo Xie.

DEALL has one of the most comprehensive graduate programs of its kind in the United States, with both an M.A. and a Ph.D. program in Chinese linguistics. Our program embraces a variety of theoretical frameworks and offers well-balanced, interdisciplinary training in major sub-fields of Chinese linguistics. Graduate training focuses on the synchronic study of linguistic structures and uses of the Chinese language and its dialects, and includes a historical dimension as well. Within this general setting, our program has particular strength in Chinese phonetics/phonology, dialectology, syntax, semantics, syntax-semantics interface, and historical linguistics. Current faculty members also have additional interest in language and gender, pragmatics, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, and bi/multilingualism.  

Our program offers more than a dozen courses and seminars, strategically designed to assure that graduate students receive a solid foundation in Chinese linguistics. The curriculum also emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration.  Graduate students in Chinese Linguistics take courses from the literature and language pedagogy programs in DEALL, as well as from such fields as Linguistics, Speech and Hearing Science, and Education. In consultation with their advisors, graduate students enjoy a high level of freedom to design their own program of study within Chinese Linguistics and beyond.

Graduate students in the program are trained to conduct research at a very early stage of their graduate study. They are active in presenting their research at national and international conferences, and in publishing their academic papers in a variety of venues, from conference proceedings to leading journals. Many of them have won scholarships and awards in recognition of excellence in their academic pursuit. Graduates from Chinese Linguistics are highly competitive in the job market, which has produced an excellent placement record. 

Faculty working in this area: Marjorie K. M. Chan and Zhiguo Xie.