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The Faculty of Linguistics offers graduate study through its taught Master's courses (one-year MSt and two-year MPhil) and its doctoral research degree (DPhil). 

To see which Masters program would suit you best, please see our interactive flowchart for taught course applicants.

The MPhil and MSt are taught courses offering a range of options for graduates seeking a higher academic qualification in language studies and wishing to specialize in General Linguistics (including Phonetics but not Applied Linguistics), in Historical and Comparative Philology, or in the linguistics of a specific language. All candidates must work in Oxford under supervision for at least one year for the MSt, and two years for the MPhil. Most of the teaching is done through lectures, seminars, and individual tutorials. 

The option papers for the MSt (AS), MSt (RP) and MPhil degrees come in three strands (B, C and D) that reflect the broad and diverse expertise of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics. 

The B options cover the major branches of theoretical linguistics and their links with general issues in the methodology of the sciences:

  • Phonetics and Phonology
  • Syntax
  • Semantics and Pragmatics
  • Historical and Comparative Linguistics

They also cover more specialised areas:

  • Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics
  • History and Structure of a Language
  • Experimental Phonetics
  • Computational Linguistics

Some of the modules listed under B require background knowledge that is difficult to acquire in a single year, and MSt students are advised to choose these modules only if they already have substantial previous training in relevant background subjects: these include the options in Experimental Phonetics and Computational Linguistics. In order to take options in the history and structure of a particular language, students will need to have degree-level abilities in the relevant language itself, even if they are new to linguistic study of the language. 

Not all options are necessarily available in each academic year.

The C options are concerned with the history and comparison of the Indo-European languages and the reconstruction of their prehistoric parent language, Proto-Indo-European. Students specialise in two language groups, one of which is studied in greater depth than the other.

Modules

C (i): The comparative grammar of two Indo-European languages or language groups.

C (ii): The historical grammar of the two languages or language groups selected.

C (iii): Translation from, and linguistic comment upon, texts in the languages selected.

One of the languages or language groups offered for the C options must be studied in greater depth than the other, and you should normally have, and may be required to demonstrate, some prior knowledge of your chosen major language. The other language or language group can be learned during the course. Languages must normally be chosen from the ancient Indo-European languages, though we make an exception for those students who want to specialise in Romance and Latin (or Italic). Other combinations often chosen are Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, Ancient Greek and Anatolian, Germanic and Ancient Greek, Italic and Celtic, Italic and Anatolian, Slavonic and Germanic, Slavonic and Ancient Greek, etc. Students will be examined in the two languages or language groups chosen, but are encouraged, if they find the time, to learn other ancient Indo-European languages as well, exploiting the fact that the University offers regular courses in Slavonic languages, Ancient Germanic languages, Celtic languages, Indo-Iranian, Armenian, and others. 

The D options provide an opportunity to explore the history and the structure of a particular ancient or modern language or of a whole ‘family’ of related languages, in the light of modern approaches to linguistic theory and philological analysis. In this course you will study:

  • the history of a language, or of historically related languages;
  • the structure of the languages or languages;

plus

  • one of: 
  • translation from, and/or linguistic comment upon, texts (written, sound-recorded) in the language or languages selected
  • a project on an aspect of the structure or history of the language, or family of related languages, studied.
  • any paper from the B options except History and Structure of a Language

To take options in the history and structure of a particular language (under List D), you will naturally be required to show a good grasp of the relevant languages, even if you have never studied them before from the perspective of  linguistic theory.

Students taking the D option may follow one of several possible ‘pathways’. For example, it is possible to pursue a course of study in: Romance linguistics: the Romance languages and linguistic theory. Students will explore the origins and history of the Romance languages in general, with specialization in at least two individual Romance languages. They will also be encouraged where possible to familiarize themselves with new Romance languages that they have not previously studied (perhaps Galician or Romanian). Through lectures, classes, and seminars they will find out how linguistic theory throws light on the history of the Romance languages and how Romance linguistics can illuminate general linguistic theory.

It is also possible within Option D to undertake the study of German and, depending on availability, combine it with the study of its closely related West Germanic varieties. Students will explore the diachronic development by means of a corpus of canonical texts from the history of the German language, while studying the structure of German from the perspective of generative grammar. All parts of this option will be taught in tutorials. 

Another possible pathway is to pursue a course of study in Slavonic linguistics and philology. Specialisation in one Slavonic language is in principle possible (e.g. Russian or Polish), but we also encourage widening the range by a second or, possibly, third Slavonic language, depending on students’ existing linguistic background. In lectures and tutorials, we explore the origins, history and structure of the selected Slavonic language/s, including an emphasis on work with texts for the historical part, and scope to apply general linguistic theory as well as methods, such as corpus linguistics.

These are just examples, other pathways are also possible, such as English, or classical languages such as Latin and Ancient (and Modern) Greek. 

The DPhil is an advanced research degree for qualified students who are ready to begin thesis work in General Linguistics (including Phonetics but not Applied Linguistics), in Historical and Comparative Philology and Linguistics, or in the linguistics of a specific language. Though the degree does not have a coursework requirement, DPhil candidates are encouraged to attend lectures and seminars in the Faculty.

Information on Graduate Courses in the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics, including how to apply, can be found here:

Additional information about our courses can be found here:

The University’s How To Guide offers helpful advice through articles covering, for example, writing a statement of purpose, what is a DPhil, how to find a supervisor, and how to find a master’s course.

For Graduate Application Enquiries, email academic-office@ling-phil.ox.ac.uk.

Information about funding is available here: