Italian and Linguistics

Italian and linguistics is a combination of unusual intellectual depth, joining one of the world's most beautiful and culturally rich languages with the scientific study of language itself. Italian is the language of Dante, Petrarch, and Leopardi, of opera, Renaissance art, and one of Europe's most sophisticated literary traditions, as well as the contemporary language of one of the world's leading cultural and design economies. Linguistics asks fundamental questions about what language is, how it works, how it is acquired, and how it varies across individuals, communities, and time.

At the University of Oxford you will study both disciplines to the highest level over four years full time. In Italian you will develop advanced linguistic proficiency alongside deep engagement with the literature, history, and culture of the Italian-speaking world, reading texts in the original from medieval through to contemporary periods. In linguistics you will study phonology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, historical linguistics, and the philosophy of language, developing the analytical tools to think rigorously about how language works at every level.

The two strands are genuinely illuminating in combination: studying Italian seriously enriches your linguistic understanding, while the frameworks of linguistics give you tools for analysing Italian that go beyond what intuition alone provides.

Oxford's tutorial system means sustained, close engagement with experts in both fields and regular practice in developing and defending arguments.

Graduates go on to careers in academia, translation and interpreting, publishing, journalism, diplomacy, international business, education, and cultural organisations. Many continue to postgraduate study in Italian, linguistics, or comparative literature.