Linguistics

Are you curious about our most crucially human attribute, language? Is a subject that combines the arts and sciences appealing? If you’ve found yourself asking ‘why?’ or ‘how?’ in relation to language, then Linguistics is for you.

Linguistics at Cambridge

Linguistics is the systematic study of human language. Superficially, there’s huge variation among the world’s languages, and linguists not only describe the diverse characteristics of individual languages but also explore properties which all languages share and which offer insight into the human mind.

The study of linguistics draws on methods and knowledge from a wide range of disciplines. For instance, the study of meaning draws on philosophy, the analysis of the speech signal uses methods from physics and engineering, and the study of language acquisition draws on psychology.

This variety is one of the things that makes linguistics fascinating: one day you might be poring over a medieval text for evidence of how the grammar of a language has changed, and the next, learning about how the larynx creates sound energy for speech, or how we can record brain responses in a categorisation task.

The Department

The Department has internationally acknowledged expertise across an unusually wide range of language-related disciplines, both theoretical and applied. Situated within the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics benefits greatly from colleagues specialising in the linguistics of particular European languages.

After Linguistics

The broad interdisciplinary training we offer provides our graduates with transferable skills that are greatly sought after by employers; for example, students learn to analyse quantitative data, construct abstract grammatical models, and test alternative hypotheses. Linguistics graduates find employment in a wide range of professions, from journalism to banking.

Linguistics provides particularly good preparation for vocational training too, in fields such as speech therapy, teaching, speech and language technology (eg developing speech recognition and translation software), law, translation, interpreting, and even forensic linguistics. Familiarity with a range of human languages is also a huge advantage in careers where rapid learning of unfamiliar languages may be involved, such as in the Diplomatic Service.

Linguistics is divided into a one-year Part I and a two-year Part II, and teaching is delivered through a mixture of lectures, supervisions and practical sessions. A typical week involves four hours of lectures, two hours of supervisions (in groups of six students in Part I, and two students in Part II), and one to two hours of practical classes.

Assessment is by written examination, and practical exams in phonetics, as well as a dissertation in the final year.

Year 1 (Part I)

Part I provides a foundation across a wide range of linguistics taught within the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. You take the following four papers:

• Sounds and Words – an introduction to phonetics, phonology and morphology
• Structures and Meanings – looking at topics including sentence construction, semantics and pragmatics
• Language, Brain and Society – considering language and its relation to cognitive and social phenomena
• History and Varieties of English – a linguistic analysis of contemporary variation and historical change in English

Year 2 (Part IIA)

Part II allows you to specialise in the areas which particularly interest you. There’s a wide choice of topics to choose from, taught by the Department as well as other faculties and departments.

In Part IIA, you take four papers chosen from a wide range of options dealing with different linguistic levels and perspectives, which may include the following (not all options are offered every year):

• Phonetics
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Syntax
• Semantics and Pragmatics
• Historical Linguistics
• History of Ideas on Language
• History of English/History of French
• Language Acquisition
• Psychology of Language Processing and Learning
• Language Typology

Year 3 (Part IIB)

In Part IIB, you take:

• Linguistic Theory – a general theory paper
• two further papers from the remaining Part IIA options

For your fourth paper, Part IIB also includes an element of individual research as you write a dissertation of 8,000-10,000 words on a topic of your choice.

• All applicants to the University of Cambridge must submit an application to UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) by the relevant deadline.
• The Attestat o (polnom) Srednem Obshchem Obrazovanii (Certificate of Secondary Education) is not considered to be suitable preparation for a competitive application to the University of Cambridge. We strongly recommend that you undertake further study if you wish to apply for an undergraduate degree. Examples of the qualifications that would be considered suitable for admission to Cambridge are A Levels, the International Baccalaureate (IB), five or more Advanced Placement (AP) courses, or possibly the first year of an undergraduate degree at a university outside the UK. We recommend that you contact the College that you wish to apply to directly for further advice and guidance.
• IELTS – normally a minimum overall grade of 7.5, usually with 7.0 or above in each element.
• Cambridge English: Advanced – grade A or B.
• Cambridge English: Proficiency – grade A, B or C.

Admission assessment

All applicants for Linguistics are required to take a written assessment at interview, if interviewed.

Assessment format

• Structured analysis of language data (20 minutes)
• Analysis of quantitative data (20 minutes)
• Short essay (20 minutes)

 Linguistics Admissions Assessment Specification

You do not need to register or be registered in advance for the assessment at interview – the Colleges provide details of arrangements in the letters inviting applicants to interview.

Please note that your performance in the assessment at interview will not be considered in isolation, but will be taken into account alongside the other elements of your application.

• Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust

Your living expenses may be higher than for a Home student (eg if you stay in Cambridge/the UK during vacations). The minimum resources needed in Cambridge for the year (excluding tuition and College fees) are estimated to be approximately £10,080 in 2017-18 and £10,310 in 2018-19, depending on lifestyle (you should allow for increases in future years).