Italian and Linguistics, MA (Hons)

Italy, one of Europe's most creative and diverse civilizations, boasts a fascinating history that this flexible programme explores through the joint study of Italian and Linguistics. Students can begin Italian as complete beginners, learning the language in its cultural context—covering influential works of literature, art, and cinema—while developing advanced skills in reading, writing, speaking, and translation through intensive tuition and a year abroad in Italy. This combination enhances social scientific understanding of language expression and meaning.Linguistics examines how sounds, words, and sentences form meaning, including language variation, evolution, and acquisition in everyday life. Students use specialist equipment to test hypotheses on global languages. At Edinburgh, with resources like the Italian Society and a tradition of teaching Italian since 1919, the four-year programme offers interdisciplinary flexibility and a full year abroad, tailoring studies to personal and employability needs.