Department of Linguistics

The Department of Linguistics was started in 1963 with Dr. Chandresekhar as its head. Only a diploma course in Linguistics was offered in the beginning. The Master’s and Doctoral programme were later introduced in 1966 when the then noted Indian linguist Professor P.B. Pandit joined the Department. Dr. R.N. Srivastava joined the Department as a Professor in 1976 and subsequently an advanced diploma course in Applied Linguistics and the M.Phil. programme, in place of the earlier M.Litt. programme, were introduced in 1978 and 1979 respectively. The department has been fortunate in attracting linguists trained in good academic institutions located in India and abroad. The significant number of international scholars from prestigious academic institutions seeking academic affiliation with the Department and the number of students admitted in the Department from at least ten countries indicate the international academic recognition that the department enjoys. The fact that about 35 students of the Department have been selected by Americans and British Universities in the last few years for pursuing doctoral research further speaks of the academic reputation of the Department. Eminent Indian Linguists who have taught at the Department include Prof. B.G. Mishra (ex-Director of the Central Institute of Hindi, Agra), Prof. C.J. Daswani, Prof. C. Ramarao, Prof Prem Singh, Prof A.K. Sinha and Prof K. V. Subbarao. In addition, many linguists of international repute have over the years been associated with the Department in various capacities. These include: Professors Gordon Fairbanks, Robert B. Lees, Gerald Kelly, Jame D McCawley, Jean Aitchison, Charles Kisseberth, Frankin C. Southworth, Richard Mckee, Yamuna Kachru, George Lakoff, Peter Trudgill, Alice Davison, Peter Hook, Hans Hock, Rajendra Singh, Kashi Wali, K.S. Yadurajan J.P.S. Oberoi, Andre Beteille, Sisir Kumar Das, B. Jernudd and J. Neustupny. The Department has also had the privilege of inviting eminent scholars including Andre Martinet, David Abercrombie, George Cardona, Eric Hamp, Peter Ladefoged, G.Nickel, R.M.W. Dixon and R. Posner, Braj B. Kachru, Y. Kachru and Noam Chomsky. It also had the honour of organizing the golden jublee celebrations of the Linguistics society of India and the Decennial celebrations of the Dravidian Linguistics Association.