Linguistics

A summa thesis should make a novel contribution to the area of study, providing new insights and advancing understanding of the topic of the thesis. It should furthermore include new data, gathered either through field work or experimental data, include a new analysis of existing data within an appropriate theoretical framework, or provide a new evaluation of existing proposals. In the last case, the summa thesis offers not just a review of existing literature, but also a critical evaluation of the theoretical or empirical generalizations offered in that literature. Magna and cum laude students may complete a thesis comprising a critical review of existing literature.