MA (Honours) Linguistics

Introduction

This department, alone among the Scottish universities, offers the M.A. (Honours) degree in Linguistics, and contributes to a large number of joint degrees with other departments and subject areas (check the Degree Finder). We graduate about 20 single, joint, and general Honours students each year.
In addition, our first and second year courses (Linguistics 1 and 2) are popular `outside subjects' for students intending to do their degrees in other departments - approximately 100 students a year take Linguistics 1. The Department's courses are also well attended by visiting students on the ERASMUS and other university exchange programmes.

Linguistics is the study of language: we explore the sounds used in different languages, the ways words, sentences and conversations are built up from their component parts, and how we use language to express meaning. We examine how children master language, how language varies across society, and how languages change over time.

Linguistics is a new subject for nearly all undergraduates, so no prior knowledge of linguistics is assumed at the beginning of the course. There are therefore no specific entry requirements, other than an interest in exploring how language works.

Degree Structure

As in all the ancient Scottish universities, the Edinburgh undergraduate degree course is a four-year course leading to the degree of MA (Honours).

In the first two years, all linguistics students take Linguistics and two other subjects - depending on your particular degree, you will normally have a free choice for one or both of these. At the end of the two years, students admitted to an Honours programme then go on to do two more years in a single subject (Single Honours) or in two subjects (Combined Honours).

How to apply

Applications are made through UCAS. We welcome applications from candidates who are not based in the UK. All admissions are handled through the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who will happily provide further detailed information.

Typical offers are: SQA Highers BBBB (more if two sittings) or GCE A Levels BBB.

After Graduation

About half our graduates go on to traditional careers for Humanities graduates in such fields as advertising, the media, management or the Civil Service. An increasing number make direct vocational use of their degree, by teaching at home or abroad, working in speech therapy and adult literacy, or doing advanced research in linguistics and cognitive science.

Open Days

The University holds regular Open Days, which provide an opportunity to find out more about the subjects and degree programmes at Edinburgh; information about open days can be obtained from the Student Recruitment and Admissions Service. We also welcome individual visitors who would like to make an independent visit; if you want to arrange such a visit, please contact the Departmental Secretary in advance so that a member of staff will be available to meet you and show you round.

For other related degrees, see also English Language, Mind and Language, and (School of Informatics) Computational Linguistics and Cognitive Science.

L1 (first year)

In the first year, you will take courses which will introduce the core areas of theoretical and descriptive linguistics: sound (phonetics and phonology), grammar (morphology and syntax), and meaning (semantics). You will also study a variety of more general topics related to language, including non-verbal communication, social and regional language variation, child language acquisition, historical language change, instrumental phonetic analysis, animal communication, and universals of language.

Course booklet (Word)

L2 (second year)

In the second year, you will take courses which will extend your knoweledge of the core areas of theoretical and descriptive linguistics: sound (phonetics and phonology), grammar (morphology and syntax), and meaning (semantics). You will also study a variety of more general topics related to language, including non-verbal communication, social and regional language variation, child language acquisition, historical language change, instrumental phonetic analysis, animal communication, and universals of language.

Linguistics 2 focuses on the core topics of Linguistics, and students are introduced to instrumental phonetics and to corpus-based empirical research.

Course booklet (Word)

Honours (third & fourth year)

In the third and fourth years (known as 'Honours'), you will choose specialised courses from a wide range of more advanced options, and will be able to tailor your own programme of study to suit your particular interests. Such a programme might include courses such as Origins and Evolution of Language, Scoiolinguistics, Speech Synthesis, First Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, Linguistic Fieldwork and Historical Linguistics. Single Honours students (and most Combined Honours students) also do a final-year dissertation on a research topic of their choice.

Honours students take courses from at least four different subareas of linguistics in their third and fourth years - the details depend on which degree they are doing, but there is a considerable degree of freedom in choosing courses according to the interests of the student. Frequently offered options include Computational Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Structure of a Language (Japanese or Finnish).

Handbook (Word)