Department of Linguistics

Home to the UK's first linguistics department, SOAS University of London is internationally recognised for the study of the languages of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

What is the Department of Linguistics at SOAS?

The Department of Linguistics at SOAS University of London offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral study in linguistics, specialising in the languages of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Founded in 1932 as the UK's first linguistics department, we are internationally recognised for research in language documentation, multilingualism, language endangerment and revitalisation, sociolinguistics, translation studies, comparative linguistics and language change.

What is Linguistics at SOAS?

Linguistics at SOAS is the scientific study of language, with a distinctive focus on the linguistic diversity of the global majority. Students explore how languages are structured, used, documented and transformed across different societies, while developing practical research skills and expertise in language analysis. Our teaching combines linguistic theory with real-world issues, including multilingualism, language contact, translation and endangered languages, offering a global perspective rarely found in traditional linguistics programmes.

Our research strengths include:

• The variety of studied languages and regional expertise
• Wide-spread of complementary thematic expertise among staff, leading to the potential if original research synergies
• Expertise in endangered languages and language documentation and description
• In-depth study of the structure of African, Asian and Middle Eastern languages and the contexts in which they are used
• Long and distinguished tradition in leading linguistic research
• Easy access to excellent specialist library holdings.