Linguistics offers a rich and multifaceted way of understanding how language works, how it evolves, and how it shapes our lives. Whether you’re curious about the science behind everyday communication, interested in studying linguistics at university, or looking to explore the wider community of researchers and societies across the UK, you can discover more about here.
Linguistics explores how language is structured, how it changes, and how it shapes the way we communicate and understand the world. It brings together ideas from the humanities, social sciences, and cognitive sciences to uncover the patterns behind everyday speech and the diversity of languages around us.
National Linguistics Day celebrates the richness and diversity of language, bringing together people of all ages who are curious about how language works and why it matters. Marked each year on 26 November, it highlights the research, teaching, and everyday discovery that drive linguistics forward. If you would like to explore what the day involves, how to take part, and details of this year’s competition, you can read more on the following page.
Studying linguistics opens up an understanding of how language functions, evolves, and shapes our interactions. It offers pathways into a wide range of careers, from education and research to speech and language therapy, translation, and technology. If you would like to explore where linguistics is taught in the UK or access online resources to start learning more about the subject, you can read more on the following page.
Postgraduate study in linguistics offers the chance to explore language in greater depth, whether your interests lie in theoretical work, language variation, cognition, or applied fields. Universities across the UK provide a wide range of masters programmes that build advanced skills for research, teaching, and professional practice. If you would like to see where these programmes are offered and which areas of linguistics they cover, you can read more on the following page.
The UK is home to a wide network of universities, research centres, and professional associations dedicated to the study of language. Together they represent the depth and breadth of linguistic research, from theoretical and descriptive work to applied and interdisciplinary fields. If you would like to explore where linguistics is studied across the country, along with key learned societies and professional bodies, you can read more on the following page.
The LAGB invites each UK university with an undergraduate teaching programme in linguistics to nominate one undergraduate dissertation or long essay for the annual Outstanding Undergraduate Dissertation in Linguistics award. Nominated dissertations may be on any topic within the field of linguistics. Submissions should be major, original pieces of undergraduate work. As a rough guide, we expect submissions to be around 8,000 words in length (equivalent to a 25-page article in Journal of Linguistics), but longer or shorter submissions will be accepted, as we recognise that different programmes have different requirements. The fundamental criteria are originality and excellence.