Sounds interesting?
Apply to the remaining courses in Linguistics before 15 Aug 2021

Language communication is the hallmark of humans. Language gives humans the capability of sharing thoughts and information with each other using a virtually unlimited combinatorial system of symbols that can be auditive, visual, tactile or a mixture thereof. Languages’ main feature is just that combinatorial use of symbols that in turn can be combined in hierarchical structures, which can themselves be further embedded in yet another hierarchical level.

In principle, such hierarchically embedded structures can be assembled to form endless complex recursive combinatorial structures, like utterances with lots of subordinate clauses but in reality the complexity of language communication among individuals is always limited by the amount of information that humans can handle, given their biological make-up. Therefore, understanding how the human brain organizes and processes linguistic information is a crucial aspect in the study of linguistics.

Studying at the Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, gives state-of-the-art insights on fundamental scientific questions like how natural languages are used in different linguistic communities, how native languages are learned early in life and how and why natural languages evolve across generations.

The perspectives and challenges that you will be dealing with as a student of linguistics are amazing and very diverse. Here are a few examples of what you will have the possibility of dealing with:
You will learn how to conduct field-studies to investigate unknown languages, how languages are created and emerge from the contact between speakers of different languages, how languages are used in social contexts, how speakers in a conversation use subtle cues to negotiate turn-taking, how teen-agers learn to adjust to other speakers’ perspectives, how visual and auditory information is linked in the speakers’ and listeners’ brains, how language is affected by dementia, aphasia and other diseases.

Linguistics is a truly interdisciplinary scientific area, where you will have the opportunity of combining traditional humanistic research perspectives with the advanced experimental techniques available at the Phonetics Laboratory and at SUBIC (Stockholm University Brain Imaging Centre, Stockholm University’s unique facility dedicated to assist humanistic humanistic studies).

Apply today to our inspiring courses in Linguistics and Phonetics!

Welcome to Stockholm University’s Department of Linguistics!