Phonetics and Phonology

Overview

Explore the social, interactional, perceptual, and phonological importance of phonetic detail, why sounds of language change over time and why we have different accents. Investigate how we learn the phonologies of our first and second languages. 

Learn about a broad range of topics within the field, and be equipped to develop your own original research. 

Taught by a diverse group of researchers, you'll gain practical training in essential skills for phoneticians and phonologists, as well as a firm grounding in theory. We are recognised experts in our field, with specialisms in a wide range of areas including sociophonetics, language change, acquisition, prosody, articulation, corpus phonetics, and spoken interaction.

Careers and skills

Effective communication, critical thinking and project management skills are central to most careers. The study of linguistics at York equips you with these skills and others, which translate readily into any work context.

The graduates of the Phonetics and Phonology programme from University of York have an excellent record of pursuing fulfilling paths after graduation. Their work spans advertising, teaching English as a foreign language, IT, accountancy, broadcasting, clinical and forensic linguistics, retail management, and other careers.

Apart from your knowledge of linguistics, you will leave with the confidence and skills that come from successfully completing a demanding course and participating fully in university life.

Hear former students talking about the skills acquired in their degree and how they use them in their current career.

Career opportunities

• Marketing and communications

• Publishing

• Broadcasting and journalism

• Academic research and further study

• Local government and public service

• Finance and accountancy

• Teaching

• Clinical and forensic linguistics

• Law

• Software development