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Studies & Degrees in Philology and Linguistics

Philology and linguistics are the two main academic approaches to language. Linguistics is the scientific study of language and its structure: speech sounds, the rules of sentence structure, how words are built and how meaning is understood. Philology studies a particular language or family of languages together with its texts, literature and history. The two overlap, and many degrees combine them.

Which name a degree carries depends on the country. In the English-speaking world departments are called linguistics, and the study of a language with its literature is usually called English, Spanish or modern languages. In Spain and much of continental Europe the philological tradition is still visible in degree names: the Universidad de Cádiz, for example, offers bachelor's degrees in Filología Clásica and Filología Hispánica alongside Estudios Ingleses, Estudios Franceses, Estudios Árabes e Islámicos and a degree in Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas.

Students of linguistics look at every level of language. The University of Washington lists sounds, signs, words, phrases, sentences and discourse, and describes a working method based on collecting data, making observations, and developing and testing hypotheses. Students of philology spend more time reading: grammar and history of the language, literature by period, textual commentary and, in classical philology, Latin and Greek.

Qualifications and levels

  • Bachelor's degrees. In Spain a bachelor's degree (grado) has 240 ECTS credits, which means four years. Elsewhere the length depends on the national system, so check each university. In the United States linguistics is studied as a major within a bachelor's degree.
  • Master's degrees. Official master's degrees in Spain have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. The Faculty of Arts of the Universidad de Cádiz offers, among others, a Máster Universitario en Estudios Hispánicos and a Máster Universitario en Ciencias del Lenguaje y sus Aplicaciones; it describes its master's degrees as lasting one academic year and giving direct access to doctoral studies.
  • Doctorate. Research careers require a PhD. University departments typically organise research by area; Stanford University's linguistics department, for instance, lists computational linguistics, phonetics and phonology, psycholinguistics, semantics and pragmatics, sociolinguistics, syntax and linguistic fieldwork.
  • Online study. Language degrees can be taken at a distance. The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) offers an official Grado en Lengua y Literatura Catalanas of 240 ECTS credits, taught 100% online in Catalan.

Where to study it

SpainExchange lists 226 active schools for philology and linguistics. The United States has the most (74), followed by Spain (31), the United Kingdom (18), Canada (8) and Germany (7). Brazil and Russia have five each, and Italy, Sweden, Mexico, the Netherlands and New Zealand three each.

In the United States the list includes Stanford University, Northwestern University, the University of Washington, The University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, The Ohio State University and The University of Texas at Austin. In the United Kingdom it includes the University of Aberdeen, the University of Southampton and the University of Westminster. In Spain it includes the Universidad de Cádiz, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo.

The language of instruction follows the subject as much as the country. General linguistics is taught in the national language, with English common at master's and doctoral level. A philology degree is taught largely in the language it studies, so a degree in Filología Hispánica in Spain requires a high level of Spanish from the first day, and a degree in English studies requires good English. International students should check the language certificate each university asks for.

Careers

Teaching languages is the traditional outlet, together with translation, publishing and editing, and research. Linguistics has added technical ones. The Linguistic Society of America, founded in 1924, describes its members as teaching and research professors, data scientists, natural language processing experts, school teachers, language revitalisation specialists and UX researchers, among others. The University of Washington gives these examples of job titles held by its linguistics alumni: attorney, linguistic project manager, localization specialist, marketing specialist, professor, speech pathologist, software engineer and teacher. Some of these, such as law or speech pathology, require a further professional qualification.

For translation and interpreting, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics states that interpreters and translators typically need at least a bachelor's degree, and it projects employment in the United States to grow 2 percent from 2025 to 2035. School teaching is regulated in most countries and normally requires a teaching qualification in addition to the degree.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between philology and linguistics?

Linguistics studies how language in general works, using scientific methods. Philology studies one language or group of languages together with its literature, texts and history. Many degrees contain both.

Do I need to speak several languages to study linguistics?

No. Linguistics analyses the structure of languages and does not require you to speak many of them. A philology or language degree is different: it is taught largely in the language studied, so you need a good level in it.

How long does a philology degree take in Spain?

Four years. Spanish bachelor's degrees have 240 ECTS credits, and an official master's degree adds 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits.

Can linguistics lead to a job in technology?

Yes. University departments point to natural language technologies as a real-world application of linguistics, and alumni job titles include software engineer and localization specialist. Computational linguistics usually requires programming and statistics as well.