Using computers to process language is increasingly important for tech applications such as Language AI as well as many different kinds of speech recognition tasks. It is also crucial for language research. Some examples are forensic analyses of speech, or uncovering social dynamics of language, among many, many others. The Computational Linguistics Concentration at UNT offers a broad introduction to the main concepts of computational language analysis, ranging from probabilistic modeling to Natural Language Processing with Neural Networks. Students will be exposed to basic and advanced machine learning and AI methods, which can be used in many applications in language research and beyond.

Degree Requirements

The MS in Linguistics degree is a 36-hour program.
2025-2026 Catalog

Course requirements include:
12 hours of core courses
24 hours of foundation courses

Students who elect to write a thesis will take 6 hours of thesis LING 5950 in lieu of 6 elective hours.

Core Courses – 12 hours

*LING 5040 - Principles in Linguistics - Needed prerequisite if your degree does not have a background in Linguistics
LING 5070 - Research Design in Linguistics
LING 5300 - Phonology I
LING 5310 - Syntax I
LING 5530 - Semantics and Pragmatics I


Foundation Courses – 24 hours

Required Foundation Courses:

LING 5405 Programming for Linguistics
LING 5410 Foundations of Computational Linguistics
LING 5412 Advanced Models of Language
LING 5415 Special Topics in Computational Linguistics

The additional foundation courses should be decided in consultation with the graduate advisor. The selection of these courses will be individually tailored with the graduate advisor to support students’ goals and interests in the program.