Linguistics and Phonetics
Undergraduate
About linguistics and phonetics
View pages in this documentLanguage plays a pivotal role in all human affairs, and as linguists and phoneticians, we want to systematically understand how language works. Doing linguistics means learning how to analyse the structure of language (for example grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary) and exploring how it is acquired, processed and employed by different people in different contexts. Doing phonetics means studying the physics of speech: how speech sounds are produced by the vocal tract, transmitted through the air and processed by the ear and brain.
Doing linguistics and phonetics together means doing detailed analytical work on data drawn from languages across the world - including looking for similarities and differences across languages, with the aim of discovering the core characteristics of human language.
Our BA programmes invite you to explore the nature and use of language in three broad areas of study. You will gain a strong foundation in the formal analysis of language structure and sound. Option pathways offer you the opportunity to study aspects of language processing and development, or engage with theories of language use in discourse.