Both Linguistics and English Language have a long history at the University of Edinburgh and our teaching staff have an excellent reputation for research in these areas.

Linguistics examines how language works. It describes how sounds, words, sentences and conversations combine to express and create meaning.

It studies:

the uses of language in everyday life
the ways in which it varies across society and evolves over time
how it is mastered by children
As well as being interested in the study of change in English language, we have a strong tradition of investigating different varieties of the language, including:

Scots
distinct dialects of English
international variations
Using techniques from modern linguistics, you will analyse the structure of written and spoken English and will explore how the language has changed in the course of its history.