Modern Greek and Linguistics
Modern Greek and linguistics together at Oxford offer a combination that is both linguistically demanding and intellectually rich. Modern Greek is the living descendant of ancient Greek, the language of a vibrant contemporary culture and of a modern state with a history that encompasses Byzantine civilisation, Ottoman rule, revolution, civil war and European integration. It is also a language with a unique relationship to its own ancient past, a relationship that gives Greek studies an unusual depth.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language as a human phenomenon, examining the structures, functions, variation and acquisition of language using empirical and formal methods.
At the University of Oxford this four-year programme develops your Modern Greek to an advanced level while also giving you rigorous training in linguistic theory and analysis. In Modern Greek you will develop proficiency across all four skills and engage with modern Greek literature, film, cultural history and contemporary society. In linguistics you will study phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics alongside theoretical frameworks that allow you to analyse any language systematically.
The pairing allows you to bring linguistic methods to bear on Modern Greek with unusual precision, and to use Modern Greek as a concrete case study for the theoretical questions linguistics raises. Oxford's tutorial system provides intensive individual engagement with scholars working at the frontier of both fields.
Graduates of this combination go on to careers in academic linguistics and Greek studies, translation and interpreting, journalism, diplomacy, cultural organisations and international business. The rigorous analytical training that linguistics provides is valued across many sectors, from technology companies working on language processing to policy organisations dealing with multilingual communities. Many graduates continue to doctoral research in linguistics, Greek studies, or related fields.
The combination is unusual and genuinely demanding, and the expertise it develops is correspondingly distinctive.