Celtic and English Language MA (Hons)

This programme offers you the opportunity to investigate the languages, literatures and cultures of the Celtic worlds alongside the linguistic study of the English language and its varieties. **Celtic** In Celtic, we work with the medieval literary tradition in Early Irish and Medieval Welsh (the most extensive in the whole of Europe), as well as Scottish Gaelic and Irish from the late Middle Ages to the present. We also explore the rich oral tradition recorded from the 18th Century to the present day, and with poetry from the 18th Century golden age of Gaelic literature. You will study 19th and 20th Century responses to the rapid social, cultural, and linguistic changes in countries where the Celtic languages are spoken, and the writing, song, and media production emerging from the lively and varied contemporary cultural scene in Gaelic Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Our expertise spans theoretical and practical issues of current sociolinguistics, language policy and language revitalisation. **Scottish Gaelic** Scottish Gaelic is at the heart of our Celtic programme, and at honours level, it is also possible to study modern Irish and the medieval Celtic languages. At all levels, we offer courses in language, literature, history, and culture, enabling you to build your programme by developing your own interests in particular areas, periods, and disciplines of Celtic studies. **English Language** The study of English Language focuses on developing your knowledge and understanding of the principles of theoretical linguistics, the way we learn language, the regional and social variations of language in general, and of the English language in particular, and methods of communication. While developing your linguistic research techniques, you will examine the structure of spoken and written English, as well as the patterns of linguistic change as it has occurred in and beyond the UK. In your honours years you will specialise in your preferred areas such as Old English, dialects, world Englishes or the history of Scots.