Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics

DPhil in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology

Course Code | 000520 

Linguistics at Oxford is an interdisciplinary subject, with most areas of general as well as historical-comparative linguistics being represented by one or several members of staff. Current research falls into seven main areas:

• Linguistic Theory (morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and their interfaces)
• Comparative Philology (esp. Greek, Italic/Latin, Indo-Iranian, Anatolian, Celtic, Slavic, Tocharian)
  
• Phonetics and Phonology (esp. phonetics/phonology interface, speech perception, language comprehension)
  
• Romance Philology (Research Centre on Romance Linguistics; esp. diachronic morphology, syntax of Italo-Romance, phonetics of French)
  
• Sociolinguistics (language variation and change, language and gender)
• Neurolinguistics/Psycholinguistics
  
• History of Linguistics

MPhil in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology

Course Code | 000650 

In addition to a compulsory paper in Linguistic Theory, students can specialise in General Linguistics (Option B), Historical and Comparative Philology and Linguistics (Option C), or in the linguistics of one or two selected languages (Option D). A 25,000-word thesis is compulsory for all options.

• Length of programme: Twenty-one months
  
• Core and optional courses:
  • Option B: Three exam papers are chosen from the following range: Phonetics and Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Historical and Comparative Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics, History and Structure of a Language, Experimental Phonetics, Sociolinguistics, Computational Linguistics
    
  • Option C: Candidates select two ancient Indo-European languages or language groups (e.g. Greek, Italic, Celtic, Anatolian, Indo-Iranian, Slavic etc.); three exam papers cover the comparative grammar, the historical grammar, and a number of set texts for linguistic commentary in the two languages
    
  • Option D: Candidates may select either ancient (e.g. Latin, Sanskrit, Akkadian) or modern languages (e.g. French, Italian, German, Japanese); three exam papers cover the history and the structure of the language(s), as well as a number of set texts for linguistic commentary
• Programme specification

MSt in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology

Course Code | 000660 

• Length of programme: Nine months
• Core and optional courses: As for the MPhil, but each option (B, C, or D) consists of two exam papers only; one of these can be replaced by a non-compulsory 15,000-word thesis.
  
• Programme specification

• Centre for Linguistics and Philology: Student workrooms with IT facilities, common room, small departmental library, teaching rooms, staff offices
  
• Phonetics Laboratory: Digital and analogue instrumentation for acoustic and physiological analysis and synthesis of speech
  
• Language and Brain Laboratory: Psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic experimentation, including EEG set-up for brain imaging studies
  
• Taylorian Institution Library: Covers the spectrum of linguistics and philology at postgraduate/research level

Various other libraries contain holdings relevant for specific fields of linguistics and/or the linguistics of specific languages (e.g. Sackler Library, English Faculty Library, Modern Languages Faculty Library, Radcliffe Science Library).

Information on academic staff profiles

Graduate programmes in related fields are available in the Faculties of Classical Languages and Literature/Ancient History, English Language & Literature, Modern Languages, Oriental Studies, Psychology, Educational Studies (Applied Linguistics), and at the Computing Laboratory.

Further research in Linguistics/Philology, teaching at secondary and further education institutions, industry, civil service.