博士 宾夕法尼亚大学的语言学专业课程涵盖了广泛的理论专业知识和方法论。使他们团结在一起的承诺是对人类学习和使用语言的能力进行认真而明确的形式化分析。我们程序的核心是形式上的生成传统，但是我们鼓励从经验和理论角度对语言结构进行对抗而产生的交叉应用。通过与其他程序（例如计算机科学和心理学）的紧密合作，我们提高了对跨学科研究所引发的语言的广泛认识的意识。除了广泛的培训之外，还将提供并期望学生掌握他们所选择的语言学专业领域的方法和结果，以此作为在计划内外与他人进行富有成效的对话的前提。历史语言学是语言学的一个子领
Historical linguistics is a subfield of linguistics in which an investigation of the history of languages is used to learn about how languages are related, how languages change, and what languages were like hundreds and even thousands of years agoeven before written records of a language. The Ph.D. program in Linguistics at Penn embraces a wide range of theoretical specializations and methodologies. What unites them is a commitment to careful and explicit formal analysis of the human capacity for learning and using language. The core of our program is the formal generative tradition, but we encourage the cross-fertilization that results from the confrontation of empirical and theoretical perspectives on language structure. By our close collaboration with other programs (such as computer science and psychology) we promote an awareness of the broad view of language that interdisciplinary study induces. In addition to broad training, students are offered and expected to master the methods and results of their chosen areas of concentration in linguistics as a prerequisite to fruitful engagement in dialogue with others, both within and outside the program.