Linguists study languages scientifically. They master languages and can interpret them in terms of their grammatical, semantic, and phonetic characteristics. They research the evolution of language and the way it is used by societies.

Tasks

Tasks include -
(a) Studying relationships between ancient parent languages and modern language groups, tracing the origin and evolution of words, grammar and language forms, and presenting findings;
(b) Advising on or preparing language classification systems, grammars, dictionaries and similar materials;
(c) Translating from one language into another and ensuring that the correct meaning of the original is retained, that legal, technical or scientific works are correctly rendered, and that the phraseology and terminology of the spirit and style of literary works are conveyed as far as possible;
(d) Developing methods for the use of computers and other instruments to improve productivity and quality of translation;
(e) Interpreting from a spoken or a signed language into another spoken or signed language , in particular at conferences, meetings and similar occasions, and ensuring that the correct meaning and, as far as possible, the spirit of the original are transmitted;
(f) Revising and correcting translated material.