Classics and Linguistics
Classics and linguistics brings together two ancient and interconnected disciplines: the study of the languages, literatures and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, and the scientific analysis of language as a human faculty and social phenomenon. Classics provides access to some of the most significant texts in the Western tradition, including Homer, Plato, Virgil and Tacitus, as well as the historical, philosophical and material culture of antiquity. Linguistics offers the theoretical tools to understand how language works, how it changes, how it varies across communities and how it is acquired.
Studying them together gives you both deep engagement with particular languages and a broader scientific understanding of what language is.
At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year programme develops your ability to read foundational texts of the Western tradition in their original Greek and Latin, alongside a rigorous grounding in linguistic theory and analysis. You will engage with phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and the history of language change, while your classical languages work opens up the literature, history and philosophy of the ancient world. A year abroad is part of the programme, giving you the opportunity to extend your academic experience at an international partner institution and develop your research and language skills further.
Graduates from classics and linguistics programmes pursue careers in teaching, academic research, translation and interpretation, publishing, the civil service, law, heritage and cultural organisations. The rigorous analytical training in both textual interpretation and linguistic analysis is transferable to any field that requires careful engagement with language and evidence. Postgraduate study in classics, ancient languages, general linguistics, historical linguistics or related fields is a natural route for those with research ambitions.
The skills in ancient languages are also increasingly relevant to digital humanities projects working with historical texts.