philologist

Other forms: philologists

A philologist is someone who studies the history of languages, especially by looking closely at literature. If you're fascinated with the way English has changed over time, from Beowulf to Beloved, you might want to become a philologist.

Linguistics is the study of language, and a philologist is a type of linguist. For a philologist, the most fascinating part of linguistics is the way the history of language, its grammar, and its meaning, can be studied by analyzing written texts and oral traditions of storytelling. Any philologist can tell you that the word comes from the Greek philologia, "love of learning, discussion, and literature."

Definitions of philologist

1. noun

   a humanist specializing in classical scholarship
   synonyms: philologue

   examples:

   Frederick James Furnivall

   English philologist who first proposed the Oxford English Dictionary (1825-1910)

   Baron Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt

   German philologist noted for his studies of the relation between language and culture (1767-1835)

   Friedrich Max Muller

   British philologist (born in Germany) who specialized in Sanskrit (1823-1900)

   Sir James Augustus Henry Murray

   Scottish philologist and the lexicographer who shaped the Oxford English Dictionary (1837-1915)

   Rasmus Christian Rask

   Danish philologist whose work on Old Norse pioneered in the field of comparative linguistics (1787-1832)

   Walter William Skeat

   English philologist (1835-1912)

   John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

   British philologist and writer of fantasies (born in South Africa) (1892-1973)

   Karl Adolph Verner

   Danish philologist (1846-1896)

   type of:

   humanist

   a classical scholar or student of the liberal arts