France isn't just a country of great writers, thinkers and the well known 'savoir-vivre', economically it is also of great importance to the Netherlands and the rest of the world. Study the French language and culture and acquire skills that provide great opportunities for an international career!

This special issue explores social meaning from the perspective of current theories in pragmatics.

While Old Germanic studies might seem dated and, regrettably, occupies a less than secure position in various academic institutions, exciting new research presented by young researchers shows that the field is still vibrant and may have a bright future. On Thursday, the 7th of April, the ‘Junius Symposium…

Dutch Studies is a unique bachelor’s programme in which you will quickly acquire fluency in spoken and written Dutch at a high academic level, while also gaining a deep understanding of the culture and history of the Netherlands.

Knowledge and culture subproject 1:

Africa is fascinating! In today’s globalised world, the continent plays an increasingly important role in international, social and cultural developments. Would you like to explore the many sides of Africa and its impact on the rest of the world, while also learning one of its languages? Our African…

Inaugural lecture

Students, lecturers and careers officers who attended a conference on preparing for the job market advise encouraging students to explore their career opportunities as soon as possible. What works?

Claartje Levelt is professor of First Language Acquisition. She researches how babies and toddlers learn their mother tongue. Besides her work, she enjoys being involved with music.

LUCL is glad to announce that two of its members have been awarded an NWO Vrije Competitie Grant.

From ca. 1540 to 1600, thousands fled the war-stricken Southern Low Countries to the British Isles, Germany, and the Northern Low Countries. Research on this displacement crisis, central to the formation of the Netherlands and Belgium, reflects 21st-century debates on migration and language: language…

The pre-master's is a bridging programme for students who have applied for the MA Linguistics, but who, according to the Board of Admissions, still have deficiencies in their educational background. Once you have completed the pre-master’s programme, you will be admitted to the relevant specialization…

When we are in a conversation, how do we know exactly when to respond, and how do we manage to respond so swiftly, yet without interrupting our interlocutors? Can speech melody – in particular utterance final “boundary tones” – help us determine who will speak next, or are these cues too late in the…

This work sets out to investigate the form and function of the imperative in the Rigveda. The morphology (and, where relevant, etymology), syntax and semantics of the imperative are covered.

In this project, we plan to combine two strands of research in speech processing: (a) the impact of prosody on speech processing and (b) the impact of musical training on speech processing. In our project we will test 8 year-old children with different degrees of musical training: (a) primary school…

Met AI kunnen nieuwsredacties razendsnel beelden genereren — maar tegen welke prijs? Dit onderzoeksrapport opgesteld door prof. dr. Jaap de Jong, dr. Astrid Vandendaele, Maartje van der Woude en Stef Arends (Universiteit Leiden), baseert zich op 59 interviews met beeldmakers, redacteurs en experts uit…

On May 17th, Arthur Crucq succesfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Arthur on this great result.

Dating back more than 400 years, Leiden University has the oldest continuous chair of Arabic outside the Arabic-speaking world. Today the MENA region is studied at Leiden from before the coming of Islam up to today from a wide array of disciplines. And Arabic is studied within the diverse linguistic,…

The BOCA project explores new forms of communicating academic knowledge as a way to strengthen the connection between the university and society.

North, Middle and South America together constitute the single largest area in World Archaeology that is taught as a single focus. It is also the only major world area that saw societies develop from hunter-gatherers to early empires entirely independent from developments in Eurasia & Africa. It is,…

The renovation of the Aleida Nijland building (previously Matthias de Vrieshof) is the fourth project in the development of the Humanities Campus. Renovating these buildings will enable the university to provide a sustainable Campus with modern facilities and an attractive educational environment that…

Vision and mission of the Academic Language Centre

Leiden University offers ambitious students state-of-the-art knowledge and the freedom to develop their own area of expertise.

French is a global language. It is spoken on every continent and serves as an official language for many international organisations (NATO, UN, WHO). In this minor, you improve your language skills, study French from a linguistic perspective, and immerse yourself in the rich global Francophone culture…

The pre-master's is a bridging programme for students who have applied for the MA Linguistics, but who, according to the Board of Admissions, still have deficiencies in their educational background. Once you have completed the pre-master’s programme, you will be admitted to the relevant specialization…

Music and language both communicate through sound, including timing and pitch. While language mainly conveys semantic meaning, instrumental music does not, and is typically seen as expressing emotion. This project investigates how well listeners recognize intended expressive feelings in music, instructed…

Study of human cultures using computational approaches

Are you ready to take on an extra challenge during your BA in Linguistics programme? With options like the Honours College, The Humanities Lab and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA), you can broaden your academic programme or add extra depth, intensity and ECTS – even a dual degree –…

Lecture, SMILE Talks

Lecture

What developments preceded modern Standard Dutch? PhD candidate Iris Van de Voorde conducted research on ‘pluricentricity’, or the idea that language norms arise in different places and spread outwards from there. PhD defence on 19 April.

There is a real chance of war closer to home, political and military leaders in Europe have warned. What does Frans Osinga, Professor of War Studies, think about the threat and what we should do?

If you follow the western media, you are likely to think of ‘Africa’ as the continent of origin of desperate migrants, a continent of hunger and disease and a breeding ground for international terrorism. But if you want to see the bigger picture, you should look no further than the African Studies scholars…

Knowledge and culture subproject 3:

Russia correspondent Eva Hartog took a Master’s in Political Philosophy in Leiden in 2011. This former editor-in-chief of The Moscow Times sees this short period as a new chapter in her life. And she is once again contemplating her future now she can no longer ask the big questions in Russia.

Many of the language rules we use today were formulated in the 17th and 18th centuries. In a dual track at the universities of Leiden and Brussels, PhD candidate Eline Lismont investigated why some rules became successful while other rules were quickly forgotten.

We are proud to announce that the 1st Volume of INTER-SECTION is now available.

While phenomenology and Yogacara Buddhism are both known for their investigations of consciousness, there exists a core tension between them: phenomenology affirms the existence of essence, whereas Yogacara Buddhism argues that everything is empty of essence (svabhava). How is constructive cultural…

This engagingly written textbook provides a unique 'hands-on' introduction to sociolinguistics, which equips readers with the tools to start their own sociolinguistic research project.

In Voices on Birchbark Jos Schaeken explores the major role that writing on birchbark – an ephemeral, even ‘throw-away’ form of correspondence and administration – played in the vibrant medieval merchant city of Novgorod and other cities in the Russian Northwest.

Exploring the language of the lower classes in the nineteenth century

This open access book investigates the transnationally connected history of Arab Christian communities in Palestine during the British Mandate (1918-1948) through the lens of the birth of cultural diplomacy.

In late medieval and early modern times, books, as well as the people who produced and read (or listened to) them, moved between regions, social circles, and languages with relative ease. Yet, in the multilingual Low Countries, francophone literature was both internationally mobile and firmly rooted…

Imaging and Imagining Palestine is the first comprehensive study of photography during the British Mandate period (1918–1948).