What we do
Linguistics is the systematic study of language, and language is a defining aspect of humankind, and the single most powerful tool to help human beings communicate and thereby organize and understand the world, their culture and society. Linguists not only describe the diverse characteristics of individual languages, but also seek to discover the deeper properties that all languages share. These common properties may give us an insight into the structure of the human mind.
Part of the appeal of Linguistics is that it encompasses a wide range of scholarship. For example, the study of meaning draws on work by philosophers, while research on speech sounds uses methods from physics and engineering in its analysis. The investigation of language has a long history, which is a topic of study in its own right, and it again draws upon techniques and knowledge from a vaste range of other disciplines. This variety is part of what makes Linguistics fascinating.
Insights from Linguistics can also be fed into (and applied to) psychology, education and computer sciences, among other fields; and at the same time insights from these fields are also fed back into linguistic theories. Thus, if one wants to understand how human beings acquire language one has to understand something about their cognitive development, the organization of the brain, the place of a human being in society, etc. Through this type of interdisciplinary co-operation we can solve practical problems involving language - in language teaching and assessment, in medical diagnosis and assistance, and in computers.
For many people, the way Linguistics transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries, including notably the traditional boundary between the arts and sciences, is what makes it an especially attractive area of research and study.
Please also see:
- Why study Linguistics at Cambridge? (video clip)
- What is Linguistics?
- Outreach and public engagement
