Our linguistics curriculum builds around five core areas of linguistics:
These are the key areas of linguistic research carried out at York, and you will be taught by experts in each field at every stage of your degree. We teach four of these core areas in the first year, then add psycholinguistics at the beginning of the second year.
On most of our courses with a main focus on linguistics, you take introductory modules in four core areas in your first year:
For details of module content, see our first year module descriptions.
Courses that don't include all core areas
The first year of the following courses includes Introduction to phonetics and phonology, Introduction to syntax, and up to one additional core linguistics module. Choices for the additional core linguistics module are indicated, where applicable:
- Ab initio German/Italian/Spanish and Linguistics (with a year abroad): Introduction to semantics OR Introduction to sociolinguistics
- Linguistics with ab initio German/Italian/Spanish: Introduction to semantics OR Introduction to sociolinguistics
- Linguistics and Mathematics: Introduction to semantics
- Philosophy and Linguistics: Introduction to semantics
- English and Linguistics: Introduction to sociolinguistics (OR History of English I)
Other degrees with limited core linguistics modules in the first year:
- Two-languages, with both languages on the A-level route: Your first year includes only two core linguistics modules, Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology and Introduction to Syntax.
- Two languages, with one language ab initio: Your first year includes only one core linguistics module. You can choose between Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology and Introduction to Syntax. You will take the remaining one in the second year.
- French and Philosophy, German and Philosophy, History and French: You can optionally take one core linguistics module (excluding Introduction to Sociolinguistics) in Year 1. Semantics is particularly relevant on French/German and Philosophy.
In the second year of almost all our courses, you will take:
In this module you apply your Year 1 knowledge of phonetics/phonology and syntax to fundamental questions in psycholinguistics: what mechanisms allow children to acquire language so easily, and why does language learning get more difficult when you get older?
In addition, you can choose to continue with all the core areas that you started in Year 1, taking the following modules:
Or, you can begin to customise your degree at this point, and drop one or more of the areas of core linguistics, taking other options offered on your particular course, instead. On most of our linguistics degree courses, you must include either Intermediate Phonetics and Phonology or Intermediate Syntax in your second-year choices. For details of module content, see our second year module descriptions.
In all of our final-year modules, you will apply or build on your core knowledge from the first or second year. We offer advanced-level modules in the core areas, such as Articulatory and Impressionistic Phonetics, Formal Syntactic Theory, and Methods in Language Variation and Change. We also offer modules that use core knowledge to explore different sub-fields of linguistics, such as neurolinguistics, pragmatics, and historical-comparative linguistics. See our current final-year modules for a typical range of modules offered. (Note that module offerings vary from year to year. The range of modules offered in your final-year may differ slightly from the range offered in the current final-year.)