Department of Linguistics
UCLA
The Department began as an interdepartmental program in 1960. For the first two years only an MA was offered. A doctoral program was approved and implemented in 1962 and a bachelor's program in 1965. In 1963, the Center for Research in Languages and Linguistics was founded. The Center provided a reading room, administrative services, and a sense of unity for the fledgling linguistics program. The members of the first class of doctoral students founded the Graduate Linguistics Circle, the organization of graduate students which continues to this day to provide vitality to the Department.
On July 1, 1966, the Department of Linguistics officially came into being and the Center was phased out. It was through the Center that the 1966 Linguistic Institute was organized and administered.
The physical life of the Department began with the administrative office and
the Reading Room in the Graduate School of Management (now called Public
Policy), the Phonetics Laboratory in Rolfe Hall, the African language section
in Royce Hall, and faculty offices scattered about the campus. In 1973 the
Department moved to its first consolidated quarters on the second floor of
Campbell Hall, with the Phonetics Laboratory expanding to occupy space both in
Rolfe and the basement of
From its earliest days the Department has been recognized as one of the most distinguished in the world in most areas of theoretical linguistics as well as in the African and American Indian language areas. The Phonetics Laboratory is internationally recognized as a major center for the experimental study of linguistic phonetics. In 1970, the UCLA Linguistics Department was ranked second in a national survey by the American Council of Education. The Department again achieved this ranking in 1980 in a national survey of graduate programs, and was third in 1992.
By now, roughly 250
individuals have received the Ph.D. degree from the department. They
teach in academic programs, and work in linguistics-related business
enterprises, across the
Faculty of the Founding Generation
William Bright
(1928-2006) taught at UCLA from 1959 to 1988. He was a distinguished scholar of
languages both of
Victoria Fromkin (1923-2000) was one of the department's own first Ph.D.'s, noted for her work in phonetics, phonology, and psycholinguistics. She began teaching in the department in 1965, and served as Dean/Vice Chancellor of the UCLA Graduate Division from 1979 to1989.
Harry Hoijer (1904-1976), a student of Edward Sapir, was a distinguished anthopologist and linguist, specializing in Athapaskan languages. He was chair of the Linguistics Program from 1959 to 1963.
Peter Ladefoged (1925-2006) came to the UCLA department in 1963. He served as regular teaching faculty until 1991 and was a Research Linguist/Emeritus Professor from 1991 to 2006. He achieved great eminence in the field of phonetics. For material about Peter Ladefoged, see the department's page Remembering Peter Ladefoged.
Paul Schachter (1929 - 2012) was one of the program's earliest Ph.D.'s, and became a noted authority on syntactic theory and on Philippine languages. He taught in the department from the mid 1960's to the early 1990's, serving as chair during the mid 1980's.
Robert Stockwell (1925-2012) was the founding chair of the department. He taught in the department from 1956 to 1994 and was for many years its Chair. For an obituary by Russell Schuh, see