Linguistics & English Language

Research in Linguistics and English Language at The University of Manchester is characterized by an exceptional breadth of expertise.

We investigate all aspects of language structure (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) and their interactions from a wide variety of perspectives (formal, typological, historical, developmental, societal, and cultural).

Our work breaks down traditional boundaries in a number of ways: for example, by pursuing syntheses of synchronic and diachronic explanation; by driving theory development through the use of data from under-described languages and non-standard varieties; by testing formal models against quantitative data from sociolinguistic variation and laboratory experimentation; and by bridging the division between linguistic and cultural studies, with particular reference to the creation of identity.

The empirical base of our research is outstandingly broad, not only methodologically, but also typologically. Thus, alongside an exceptionally large cluster of experts on English language, we have particular strengths in Romance, Germanic, Indo-Iranian, the languages of Latin America, and the languages of Australia.