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Linguistics

If you find yourself asking ‘why’ or ‘how’ in relation to language, Linguistics may be for you

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Why choose Linguistics at Girton?

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, incorporating methods and knowledge from a wide range of disciplines. In Girton, you will have the extraordinary opportunity to engage with a rich and diverse community of students and scholars working across different languages and branches of linguistics, as well as many relevant subjects such as philosophy, English, Classics, engineering, and psychology.

Linguistics students may be particularly interested in the annual Ridding Reading Prize, which involves reading a series of prose and poetry texts, both seen and unseen, to an appreciative audience, and in the Mountford Humanities and Arts Communications Prize.

  • No. of students admitted per year: 2
  • Entry requirements: All entry requirements are A-Level standard or equivalent, unless otherwise stated. No specific subjects. We welcome applicants with an outstanding academic profile whether science-oriented or arts-centred. Some formal study of language, either through learning languages or through English Language A-level (or equivalent), does however serve as a good preparation.
  • Typical offer: A*AA
  • Assessment arrangements: If invited to interview, Cambridge applicants are required to take a written assessment, which takes place after shortlisting. Further information about the written assessment can be found here.
  • Interview arrangements: Two interviews.

Linguistics bridges the divide between arts and sciences. The main requirement for studying linguistics is a lively curiosity about the nature of language. It may be that you have been struck by a language that puts its verbs in a different position in the sentence, or wondered why languages change (making Chaucer hard to understand, for instance). You may have been puzzled that automatic speech recognition software gets a perfectly clear word wrong, or realised that an utterance such as ‘it’s cold in here’ may mean more than the words (understood: ‘do close the window!’). You may have been excited to learn that languages as diverse as Welsh and Hindi have a common ancestor. Basically, if you find yourself asking ‘why?’ or ‘how?’ in relation to language, linguistics may be for you. 

In Cambridge you will have the opportunity to engage with an extraordinary range of different branches of linguistics, including language acquisition (how humans learn languages), sociolinguistics (how language functions in societies), neurolinguistics (how language is processed in the brain), psycholinguistics (how the mind understands and produces language) and phonetics (the articulation and perception of speech sounds). Within many of these fields, you will be able to study and investigate aspects of phonology (sound systems and patterns in language), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (how sentences are formed), semantics (meaning in language), and pragmatics (language in context). We also give our students the opportunity to look at language through the lens of other scientific disciplines like neuroscience, psychology, and computer science.

Because linguistics is interdisciplinary, specific A-level subjects are not required, and applicants who are science-oriented as well as those who are arts-centred are equally welcome. Some formal study of language, either through learning languages or through English Language A-level, does serve as a good preparation for the linguistics course. It is possible to start an undergraduate course in Modern & Medieval Languages and to change to Linguistics for the third and fourth years of the course.

Explore a range of subject societies and talk series where you can delve deeper into your passion for linguistics beyond the classroom, hear from leading scholars in the field, and connect with like-minded peers:

Graduates from the Linguistics Tripos have gone on to a wide range of careers including:

  • artificial intelligence
  • language technology
  • speech therapy
  • forensic linguistics
  • publishing
  • education

Are you interested in linguistics but unsure where to start? Why not take a look at some of these resources to spark your interest and learn more about language as a system?

Accessible readings:

The Language Instinct, Steven Pinker

Patterns In The Mind: Language And Human Nature, Ray Jackendoff

Language Unlimited: The Science Behind Our Most Creative Power, David Adger

The Wonders of Language or How to Make Noises and Influence People, Ian Roberts

Online Lectures & Resources

MIT OpenCourseWare – Introduction to Linguistics

‘About Linguistics’, LAGB website

‘What is applied linguistics?’, BAAL website

Linguistics and Language Podcasts

All Things Linguistics

Lingthusiasm

Competitions and Challenges

The Babel Young Writers’ Competition

UK Linguistics Olympiad

Fellows and teaching staff