BA Linguistics and Sociology

This course builds on “English Word and Sentence Structure” to deepen students’ knowledge of the grammatical analysis of a language. Empirically, it covers a comprehensive set of morpho-syntactic and word order phenomena. The data comes mainly from English, but some phenomena require data from other languages. We consider how more abstract generalisations can be made over the data and how these generalisations can be captured with formal tools.

Compulsory Pre-Requisite: LELA10301: English Word and Sentence Structure. Students who do not meet this pre-requisite must gain academic approval before they can enroll.

• to introduce students to language data that illustrate some central properties of morpho-syntax;
• to introduce the students to the basic principles and formal tools of a syntactic framework;
• to show the students how to apply the tools of that framework to the data sets in order to capture generalisations;
• to give students a sense of what can be gained by constructing an abstract model for a complex dataset

By the end of this course students will:

• understand the crucial properties of a core set of morpho-syntactic data;
• learn how data in formal grammar is used, grammatically judged and presented professionally:
• apply formal tools in syntax to data sets.

 By the end of this course students will:

• make generalisations over complex data sets;
• acquire abstract concepts;
• understand the value of constructing an abstract model for a complex dataset;
• understand that if they read a complex argument a second time, they understand it better than the first time they read it.

By the end of this course students will:

• manipulate the tools of a formal system;
• analyse unfamiliar language data and detect patterns;
• understand that if they read a complex argument a second time, they understand it better than the first time they read it.

All intellectual and practical skills listed above are transferrable. Personal skills that will be developed include independence, perseverance, working to a deadline, time management, and the confidence to trust your own intelligence. 

• Roberts, Ian (2023) Beginning Syntax: An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Suggested:

• Carnie, Andrew (2013) Syntax: A Generative Introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.  
• Radford, Andrew (2016) Analysing English Sentences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2027 will be £10,050 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 per annum.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about - student finance options for UK students.

Learn more about - fees and finance for international students.

As an international student you may be eligible for our - Global Futures Scholarships. This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.