philologist

A philologist is a scholar who studies language in historical texts. The term derives from the Greek philein (to love) and logos (word, discourse).

Philology encompasses textual criticism, historical linguistics, etymology, and interpretation of literary, historical, and religious texts. It emphasizes manuscripts and the historical development of languages, distinguishing its methods from some branches of modern linguistics that focus on structure and computation.

Fields include classical philology (Latin and Greek texts), modern philology (literature in European languages), biblical philology, comparative or historical philology, and literary philology. Scholars often specialize in authors, genres, or periods and in the textual tradition surrounding them.

Historically, philology originated with humanists studying manuscripts, grammar, and lexicon; by the 18th and 19th centuries it was central to national-language and literary studies. In the 20th century its scope broadened and in many contexts the term gave way to linguistics, though classical and traditional philology persists.

Education and career typically involve degrees in philology, classics, linguistics, or related fields. Practicing philologists work in universities, libraries, museums, and research institutes, producing critical editions, philological commentaries, dictionaries, and translations.

Modern philology includes digital philology, computational text analysis, manuscript digitization, paleography, and epigraphy, often in collaboration with archaeology, documentary linguistics, and computer science.