What is...?
what is... LINGUISTICS
The subject matter of linguistics is Language - not particular languages, but language as a human activity. English and French may seem very different to you, but linguistics tries to find out what they have in common. Linguistics deals with both the Structure of the language and with the way it Functions in different settings.
The main function of language is communication. Many kinds of creatures can communicate - a dog can let you know whether it wants to be petted or is about to bite you - but human communication is much more subtle than that. The same language can be used in many different ways for different communicative purposes. For example, a doctor has to be able to use a whole range of specialised medical vocabulary, but also has to know when not to use it - the doctor will speak very differently to a surgical colleague, to a sick child, and to the sick child's parents. And in these different situations it's not just vocabulary that changes - 'tone of voice' and even grammar will vary too. This kind of variation is part of what linguistics is all about.
Language structure includes grammar, of the sort you've probably learned at school, but it's not just about nouns and verbs and so on, Linguistic research has shown that speakers of a language are sensitive to many facts about their language's structure, even though they may not be aware of them consciously. For example, any speaker of English 'knows' that SPALT could be a word of English (though it isn't), but PSATL couldn't be. Any speaker of English could tell you that 'Velar fricatives only occur in codas' is English (even though it has some strange words in it), whereas there's something seriously un-English about 'Lamb a little had Mary' (even though the words are all perfectly ordinary). Linguistics explores this kind of knowledge that speakers have.
Because language is such a fundamental part of what people do, linguistics has links to many different subjects. Different aspects of linguistics call on different kinds of talents and appeal to different kinds of students. Social variation in language is relevant to the social sciences, and 'Sociolinguistics' is a recognised interdisciplinary field. The kinds of knowledge people have about language affects the way they think and perceive the world, so there are close links to psychology as well. Detailed analysis of language structure puts linguistics in contact with artificial intelligence and information technology. And the discipline of considering language as objectively as possible is good background for those whose interests are primarily in literature and other humanistic fields.
Courses Offered
As linguistics is not a subject most people meet at school, we have designed our courses to allow you to study it from the beginning at university, and to try it out for one or two years before deciding whether to continue with it into Honours. For nearly everyone linguistics is a new subject - many of our graduates have 'discovered' it for the first time at university. (This is one reason we do not have specific entry requirements for linguistics itself; if you happen to know Ancient Greek, or happen to be a computer programmer, or play a musical instrument, any of these may be to your advantage at some point in doing a linguistics degree).Course Structure and Content
In the first two years all potential linguistic students on any degree course take Linguistics 1 and Linguistics 2. On joint degrees another first and second year course will normally be specified as well - such as Artificial Intelligence 1 and 2, English Language 1 and 2, and so on. In most degrees the third subject taken in the first two years is a completely free choice. In addition to obvious choices such as another language or Social Anthropology or Artificial Intelligence, the list of outside subjects taken by first and second year students in recent years also includes Music, Moral Philosophy, and Criminology.
Linguistics 1 introduces the core areas of linguistics - phonetics and phonology, morphology and syntax, and semantics - but it also deals with more general topics in human communication and real-life applications of linguistics, including social and regional variation of language, non-verbal communication, cross-cultural communication, writing systems and written language, language planning and education, and speech technology. Linguistics 2 focuses more on the core topics, and students are introduced to instrumental phonetics and empirical research on recorded dialogues.
In the third and fourth year students take courses only in Linguistics, and in their other subject if they are doing a joint degree. These include a certain required minimum within the core subjects of phonetics, phonology, syntax, and semantics, together with a certain number of 'option' courses. The details differ somewhat from degree to degree. The range of options courses includes computational linguistics, applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, and the structure of a non-European language. Different options are offered in different years so that students can take options in both their third and forth years.
In the fourth year all single Honours students and many joint Honours students write a dissertation of approximately 8000 words on an approved topic of their own choosing. In recent years many students have chosen topics related to ongoing research in LEL, and have made a direct contribution to this research. In a few cases dissertations have formed the basis for published articles in technical journals. Topics for dissertations are extremely varied - the following is a sample from the past few years:
- The Sociolinguistics of Scottish Gaelic: Its decline and recent revival
- Machine translation: History, theory and systems
- Tongue twisters: Why do they cause production errors?
- Franglais: Borrowing in French
- The role of overall second formant frequency in speaker discrimination
- Gender and language in the media
- An experimental investigation into the categorial perception of downstep in English intonation
- Noun incorporation in American Indian languages (with special reference to Nahuatl and Onondaga)
A major exception to the pattern just outlined for the two Honours years is found in the joint degree involving modern languages, such as French and Linguistics or Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics. In most of these degrees students spend the third year abroad in a country where the language they are studying is spoken. Some work as English language assistants in schools; some take courses at foreign universities. Normally they are required to carry out a research project or write one or more essays while they are abroad. (Again, the details vary from degree to degree). In the fourth year when these students return from abroad they take the third year linguistics 'core' courses and one or two option courses in linguistics, in addition to coursework in their other subjects. There is no fourth-year linguistics dissertation as part of these degrees.
Teaching and Assessment
Linguistics 1 and 2 are based primarily on lectures, but as much as possible we use tutorial and other small group project work throughout the curriculum. In Linguistics 1 and 2 there are weekly tutorials throughout the year; additionally, in Linguistics 1 there is independent practical microlab work on phonetics ear training and in Linguistics 2 there is further small group work in connection with instrumental phonetics and dialogue studies.
In Linguistics 1 and 2 we operate a continuous assessment scheme, so that your mark in these courses is based primarily on written assignments and tests (as well as a practical test in phonetics) done during the year. Students whose mark on this classwork reaches a certain standard can be exempted from the June degree examination at the end of Linguistics 1 and 2.
In the Honours years there is no regular form of continuous assessment, but in many of the Honours courses part of the final mark depends on a project or essay handed in as part of the course. Written examinations are taken in June at the end of both the third and fourth years, covering the course material taken in those years separately.
Class Sizes and Numbers of Graduates
Linguistics 1 typically has about 100 students and roughly half go on to take Linguistics 2. These courses are popular outside subjects: a large proportion of those in Linguistics 1 and about half of those in Linguistics 2 are doing Linguistics as an outside subject. (Every year a few start out doing Linguistics as an outside subject and end up deciding to do Honours in Linguistics instead!)
In both Linguistics 1 and 2 the class is divided up into tutorial groups of about ten students. These groups stay together for the entire year, though they may meet with different tutors in different subjects. This arrangement lets you get to know a group of other students taking the course. Each group elects a representative to a staff-student liaison committee specially set up for each of the two courses. Every term all the tutorial groups have an opportunity to discuss problems related to the course, and these discussions are then reported to a meeting of the representatives with the Course Director.
In most Honours years there are about 25 students - roughly 5-10 in single Honours and 15-20 on various joint Honours degrees. Class sizes in the Honours courses vary from 5 to 35, since these courses are well attended by visiting students on the ERASMUS and other university exchange programmes.
Careers
About half our graduates, particularly those who combine Linguistics with another Arts subject like French or English Language, go on to traditional careers for Arts graduates in such fields as the Civil Service and management. An increasing number make more directly vocational use of the degree, going abroad to teach English as a foreign language, working in speech therapy or adult literacy, or doing post-graduate work in fields like linguistics, speech technology, or cognitive science.
In many cases postgraduate study may be involved in careers related to linguistics. Students interested in teaching English often do a certificate in TEFL or even a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics before beginning work, although in some parts of the world this is not necessary. Speech and language therapy work require further specialised training but a number of our recent graduates have received funded places on MSc courses and others have been given advanced standing on the speech therapy course at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. Speech technology research requires postgraduate work as the basis for a career, but over the past 15 years several of our recent graduates have found temporary employment as research assistants in speech technology, both at the Centre for Speech Technology Research (which is an interdisciplinary research centre linking Informatics and LEL) and more recently in local spin-off companies with links to us and to the School of Informatics. Finally, a few of our graduates have gone on to academic work in linguistics and related fields, both in the UK and abroad.
Exchange Schemes
We actively support exchange schemes like ERASMUS/SOCRATES. In the past few years we have had as many as 15 or 20 undergraduates, particularly from Germany, France and the Netherlands, taking part in our courses at all levels. There are also a few students from North America on Junior Year Abroad programmes.
Fewer of our own students go abroad on schemes (except language students on joint Honours degrees - see Course Structure and Content) but we do everything we can to make it possible for them to do so. We are flexible about course requirements for such students, recognising that the course work they may do abroad will not exactly match what we offer here. One student recently spent her entire third year in the Netherlands, and another spent his entire third year in Germany, while others have spent shorter periods abroad.
Further Information
Please contact us.
Admission requirements
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. However, it will not form part of a contract between the University and a student or applicant and must be read in conjunction with the Terms and Conditions of Admission set out in the Undergraduate Prospectus.
what is... ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Our teaching, supervision and research focuses on a wide range of topics which can be described as 'the study of the English Language and its linguistics'; this includes the question of whether there really is one homogenous English language, or whether it is better, in fact, to talk of 'Englishes'. The department also offers several opportunities to study Scots and to consider how this differs from the forms of English spoken in Scotland.
We investigate:
- social and regional variation in English (UK and worldwide accents and dialects of English, and Scots)
- the phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics of (varieties of) English
- the history of English and Scots over more than 1000 years
- the linguistic study of texts and literature
The department is situated in 14 Buccleuch Place in the main University Campus, in central Edinburgh. We are part of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, which groups together a fantastic array of teachers and researchers with an interest in aspects of the study of language. English Language itself has over 300 undergraduate students, nine full-time members of staff and a strong research and postgraduate culture. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise, the department received a 5 rating, reflecting the extremely high standard of research carried out here.
We address such issues as:
- how does English work as a language - how is it different from other languages, and how is it the same?
- what precisely distinguishes the speech of a Geordie from a Cockney from a Kiwi from a Scot?
- how does speech reflect age, sex or class?
- how does the language of advertising in English differ from that of poetry?
- how can the history of English be recovered from the sources that remain to us (e.g. Anglo-Saxon poems, Shakespearean literature, 18th Century letters)
- why is English so widespread in the world and what kind of variation is connected with this?
- in what ways, precisely, does this text differ from those of Modern English, and why...?
The department holds regular Visiting Days for prospective students and for those who have been offered a place at Edinburgh and want to find out more. The department also welcomes individuals who would like to make an independent visit. For more information about this, please contact the Departmental Secretary, or consult the 'visiting opportunities' explained in the online prospectus.
Please note that we do not give lessons in how to speak English. For information on learning English as a foreign language or TEFL courses please contact the Institute of Applied Language Studies.
what is... SCOTS
Is Scots a different language from English?
It is often claimed that it is. Scots is not Gaelic, the Celtic language which is still spoken in Scotland (and which can be studied at Edinburgh in the department of Celtic and Scottish Studies), but rather the independent development of the language(s) that the Anglo-Saxons brought to Britain in the middle of the first millennium CE/AD. Scotland has a linguistic and literary tradition that sets it apart in many ways from other parts of the British Isles, and Scots has a recorded history of around 8 centuries and is, as a result, of great linguistic and cultural significance and interest. Written materials available to us range from official texts like Acts of Parliament, Burgh Records and Wills, to medieval poetry and personal diary entries, to the poetry of Burns, MacDiarmid and, more recently, Liz Lochhead or Tom Leonard. We also have access to a tremendous variety of present-day spoken Scots and Scottish English material.
To see some modern written Scots, try the 'Scuil Wab' site, which is meant mostly for schoolchildren who are native Scots speakers, and is run by Chris Robinson, a member of the department. As well as chances to study English as spoken in Scotland, our department offers several opportunities to study both Modern Scots and the history of the Scots language.
Scots at Edinburgh
Our English Language degrees at Edinburgh offer several levels of study in Scots.
In 1st year there are introductory lectures on various aspects of Scots, such as the history of Scots and Scots dialects, and on the language of modern Scots Literature.
In 2nd year Modern Scots and Scottish 'Standard' English are investigated, including their origins and development, sociolinguistics and structure.
Honours courses then build on the knowledge previously acquired and expand it by adding in new elements (in particular, the necessary historical background) and develop topics only able to be touched on in earlier years. Currently the following course is offered at Honours level:
Scots: History and Structure
This course aims to familiarise students with historical background to and nature of the distinctive linguistic situation vis-a-vis Scots and English in present day Scotland. By the end of the course, students should have a knowledge of the synchronic nature of Modern Scots, of how and why it has evolved from Older Scots, or differs from Older Scots and of how Scots relates to Scottish 'Standard' English.
If you are interested in Scots, please have a look at the research pages of the staff in the English Language Department who specialise in this area:
