Japanese and Linguistics, MA (Hons)

Over the past 150 years, Japan has undergone rapid transformation while preserving its rich cultural heritage. This joint honours programme in Japanese and Linguistics equips you with essential linguistic, intercultural, and analytical skills to engage critically with this dynamic society through an interdisciplinary lens. By combining the study of a modern language in its cultural context with the exploration of meaning, expression, and social scientific perspectives on language, you will receive the same high-quality Japanese language training as MA (Hons) Japanese students, while focusing on linguistics topics such as the speech sounds, variations, structures, and histories of world languages.Edinburgh is Scotland's only university offering undergraduate honours in Japanese, with a curriculum designed to build expertise on Japan and its role in East Asia. You will develop proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing Modern Japanese, starting as a beginner, through innovative and inclusive classes. A key feature is spending Year 3 in Japan for immersive study and cultural experience. In Linguistics, you will examine how language functions, its everyday uses, societal variations, evolution, and acquisition, while learning to test hypotheses using advanced equipment.