What is a linguist?

A linguist studies and analyzes how a language works. Areas of focus may include the sounds within a language (phonetics), the construction of phrases (syntax), and the meanings of words (semantics). Linguists may research the origins of a language and how it evolved, examine the differences among dialects in a country, and document a little-known or endangered language. Because linguists decipher the function of language in human interactions, they do not need to speak the languages they study, though many linguists are multilingual. Daily tasks may include discovering phonetic patterns, finding similar words and expressions between languages, and performing verbal and non-verbal experiments with speakers of the same language.