English Language and Linguistics

Find out about English Language and Linguistics at Sussex, based within the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, and search for people who work there.

Language studies group

About English Language and Linguistics

Here at Sussex, the study of English language is the linguistics of English. This involves studying all aspects of the language, including:

  • language structure
  • language history
  • use of language
  • how language exists in our individual minds, as well as across cultures and societies.

We also compare English with other languages and explore the effects of language contact on varieties of English.

Our experts

Our faculty are recognised scholars, who have won academic prizes and research awards and our courses are widely seen as inventive, inviting interdisciplinary study.

We investigate: 

  • the sounds, words and structures of English
  • what features English shares with other languages and how it differs
  • how context affects meaning
  • what happens to English when it comes into contact with other languages
  • what it means to be members of an English-speaking culture in these days of globalisation
  • how belief systems and identities are created and reflected through language
  • how language is used to persuade, to vilify, to forge bonds between us
  • how we learn language and how it’s represented in the mind
  • how and why language changes.
My lecturers have opened up so many doors to things like forensic linguistics, stuff that I didn't know were options. Now I know and enjoy them, and want to pursue them.' Zoe Fuller
English Language and Linguistics BA

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