A linguist in the academic sense is a person who studies natural language (an academic discipline known as linguistics). Ambiguously, the word is sometimes also used to refer to a polyglot (one who knows several languages), a translator/interpreter (especially in the military), or a grammarian (a scholar of grammar), but these uses of the word are distinct (and one does not have to be multilingual in order to be an academic linguist).The word linguistician has been coined to refer to one who studies linguistics, in order to avoid this ambiguity, although this word is vanishingly rare and has no currency in the field . The following is a list of notable academic linguists.
In the list, the description is presented as:
surname, given name (country, year of birth–year of death), main achievement
__NOTOC__
A
Abbott, Barbara (United States, 1943–), pragmatics, semantics Abel, Carl (Germany, 1837–1906), comparative lexicography Abdul Haq, Maulvi (India, 1870–1961), Urdu language Abrams, Lise (United States), psycholinguistics Abramson, Arthur S. (United States, 1925–2017), phonetics Adamou, Evangelia (France), language contact Adams, Douglas Q. (United States), English language, comparative linguistics, Tocharian language Adler, George J. (Germany/United States, 1821–1868), lexicography, German language, English language Aijmer, Karin (Sweden, 1939–), pragmatics, semantics Aikhenvald, Alexandra Yurievna (Russia, 1957–), syntax, typology, Amazonian languages, Papuan languages, Hebrew language, Russian language Aitken, Adam Jack (UK, 1921–1998), lexicography Ajduković, Jovan (Serbia, 1968–), Slavic languages, sociolinguistics, contact linguistics, Russian language, Serbian language Albright, William Foxwell (United States, 1891–1971), Semitic languages Alexiadou, Artemis (1969–), Greek language, syntax Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (Oman, 718–786 CE), Arabic prosody Al-Kisa'i (Iraq, d. 804), Arabic grammar Allan, Keith (Australia, 1943–), semantics Allen, Shanley (1964–), psycholinguistics, Inuktitut Alleyne, Mervyn Coleridge (Trinidad and Tobago/Jamaica, 1933–2016), creole language Ameka, Felix (Ghana, Australia, Netherlands, 1957–), pragmatics, semantics Amerias (Greece, 3rd century BC), Ancient Macedonian language, lexicography Anagnostopoulou, Elena (1967–), Greek language, theoretical linguistics Anderson, Gregory D.S. (United States), Munda languages Anderson, Stephen (United States, 1943–), morphology and history of linguistics Aoun, Joseph (Lebanon/United States, 1953–), Arabic language, syntax Aquilina, Joseph (Malta, 1911–1997), Maltese language Ariel, Mira (Israel), Accessibility Theory, pragmatics Arisaka Hideyo (Japan, 1908–1952), Japanese language Aristar, Anthony (South Africa/United States, 1948–), linguistic infrastructure Armstrong, Lilias (UK, 1882–1937), phonetics Aronoff, Mark (Canada, 1949–), morphology Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia (Italy, 1829–1907), substrata, Ladin language Austin, John Langshaw (UK, 1911–1960), philosophy of language, speech act Awobuluyi, Oladele (Nigeria, 1937–), African languages Ayres-Bennett, Wendy (UK), history of French and history of linguistic thought Azad, Humayun (Bangladesh, 1947–2004), Bengali language Al-Harbi, Abdul Aziz (Saudi Arabia, 1965–) Al-Mubarrad (Basra, c. 826–c. 898)
B Babiniotis, Georgios (Greece, 1939–), Greek language Babych, Nadiya (Ukraine, 1943–2021), phraseology Bach, Emmon (United States, 1929–2014), syntax, phonology, Haisla language Baker, Mark (United States, 1959–), Mohawk language, generative grammar Bally, Charles (Switzerland, 1865–1947), French language, phraseology Barbara, Leila (Brazil, 1938–2024), systemic functional linguistics Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen (United States, 1954–), second-language acquisition, tense and aspect, pragmatics Bar-Hillel, Yehoshua (Israel, 1915–1975), machine translation, categorial grammar Barker, (Philip) Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman (United States, 1930–2012), Urdu language, Indian languages Barlow, Robert Hayward (United States, 1918–1951), Nahuatl language Barnhart, David K. (United States, 1941–), lexicography, English language Barnhart, Robert (United States, 1933–2007), lexicography, English language Barsky, Robert (Canada), discourse analysis Barthes, Roland (France, 1915–1980) Bartlett, John Russell (United States, 1805–1886) Basbøll, Hans (Denmark, 1943–), phonology, Danish Baudouin de Courtenay, Jan Niecisław (Poland, 1845–1929), phonology, Polish language Bauer, Robert Stuart (United States, 1946–), syntax, phonology, Sino-Tibetan languages (especially Cantonese) Baugh, John (United States, 1949–), sociolinguistics, linguistic profiling, forensic linguistics Beckman, Mary E. (United States, 1953–), phonetics, phonology Beckwith, Christopher (United States, 1945–), Asian languages, Tibetan language Beddor, Patrice (United States), Phonetics, speech perception Bedirxan, Celadet Alî (Syria, 1893–1951) Kurdish language Beeken, Jeannine (Belgium, 1961–), lexicography, syntax, Dutch language Beekes, Robert (Netherlands, 1937–2017), historical linguistics, Indo-European linguistics, Greek linguistics Bello, Andrés (Venezuela, 1781–1865), Spanish language, philology Bellugi, Ursula (United States, 1931–2022), sign language, neurolinguistics Ben-Yehuda, Eliezer (Israel, 1858–1922), lexicography, Revival of the Hebrew language Bender, M. Lionel (United States, 1934–2008), African languages Benedict, Paul K. (United States, 1912–1977), Sino-Tibetan languages, Tai–Kadai languages, historical linguistics Benveniste, Émile (France, 1902–1976) Berez-Kroeker, Andrea L. (United States, 1972–), language documentation Berlitz, Charles Frambach (United States, 1914–2003), language acquisition Berlitz, Maximilian Delphinius (United States, 1852–1921), language acquisition Bhartrihari (India, 450–510), Sanskrit Bickel, Balthasar (Switzerland, 1965–), language typology, Kiranti languages Bickerton, Derek (United States, 1926–2018), creole languages, origin of language Bleek, Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel (Germany, 1827–1875), languages of Africa Bloch, Bernard (United States, 1907–1965), Japanese language Bloch, Jules (France, 1880–1953), languages of India Bloomfield, Leonard (United States, 1887–1949), structural linguistics Blust, Robert (United States, 1940–2022), Austronesian languages Boas, Franz (United States, 1858–1942), indigenous languages of the Americas Bœck, Égide de (Belgium, Belgish Congo, 1875–1944), Bangala language, Lingala Boersma, Paul (Netherlands, 1959–), phonetics Boiagi, Mihail G. (Habsburg monarchy, 1780–uncertain), Aromanian grammar Bohn, Ocke-Schwen (Germany, 1953–), phonetics, second-language acquisition Bolinger, Dwight Le Merton (United States, 1907–1992), semantics, Spanish language Bomhard, Allan R. (United States, 1943–), Nostratic languages, historical linguistics Ester Bonet (Spain, born 1950), sports terminology Bopp, Franz (Germany, 1791–1867), Indo-European languages, comparative linguistics Boullón Agrelo, Ana Isabel (Spain, born 1962), Galician language toponymy, Galician–Portuguese philology Bowerman, Melissa (1942–2011), psycholinguistics, language acquisition Bowern, Claire, historical linguistics Boyd, Julian Charles (United States, 1931–2005), English language Bresnan, Joan (United States, 1945–), syntax Bright, William (United States, 1928–2006), Native American languages, South Asian languages Brinton, Laurel J. (Canada, 1953–), grammaticalization, discourse markers Brody, Michael (Hungary, 1954–), syntax Broselow, Ellen (United States, 1949–), second language acquisition, phonology Browman, Catherine (United States, 1945–2008), phonetics, phonology Brugmann, Karl (Germany, 1849–1919), Indo-European languages, Sanskrit, comparative linguistics Bucholtz, Mary (United States, 1966–), sociolinguistics Burgess, Anthony (UK, 1917–1993), English language, phonetics Burling, Robbins (United States, 1926–2021), languages of India Burridge, Kate (Australia), Germanic languages Butt, Miriam (Germany, 1966–), syntax, South Asian languages Butzkamm, Wolfgang (Germany, 1938–), applied linguistics, English language Byington, Cyrus (United States, 1793–1868), translated English religious text into Choctaw language Badawi, El-Said (Egypt, 1929–2014), Arabic
C Caland, Willem (Netherlands, 1859–1932), historical linguistics, Sanskrit Campbell, Lyle (United States, 1942–), Native American languages, historical linguistics Canger, Una (Denmark, 1938–), Mesoamerican languages Canonge, Elliott D. (United States, 1921–1971), Comanche, Inuit Capell, Arthur (Australia, 1902–1986), Australian languages, Austronesian languages, Papuan languages Cardona, George (United States, 1936–), Indo-European studies Carnap, Rudolf (Germany, 1891–1970), syntax, constructed languages Carnie, Andrew (Canada, 1969–), syntax Caro Baroja, Julio (1914–1995), Basque language Caro, Miguel A. (Colombia, 1843–1909), Spanish language, Colombian Spanish Carpenter, William Henry (United States, 1853–1936), Icelandic language Cart, Théophile (France, 1855–1931), Esperanto Carter, Hazel (UK, 1928–2016), Bantu languages Catford, J. C. (UK, 1917–2009), phonetics Chadwick, John (UK, 1920–1998), Linear B Chafik, Mohamed (Morocco, 1926–), writer and specialist in the Berber or Amazigh languages, dialects, and literature Chafe, Wallace (United States, 1927–2019), cognitive linguistics, semantics Chao Yuen Ren (China, 1892–1982), Chinese language Chakrabarti, Byomkes (India, 1923–1981), Santali language, Bengali language, comparative linguistics Champollion, Jean-François (France, 1790–1832), Egyptian hieroglyphs Chambers, Jack (Canada, 1938–), sociolinguistics Chatterji, Suniti Kumar (India, 1890–1977), Bengali language Chelliah, Shobhana, Tibeto-Burman languages Chierchia, Gennaro (Italy, 1953–), semantics, pragmatics Choijinzhab (PR China, 1931–2022), Mongolian language Chomsky, Noam (United States, 1928–), syntax, universal grammar Choueiri, Lina (Lebanon), syntax, Lebanese Arabic Chyet, Michael L. (United States, 1957–), Kurdish language Clark, Eve V. (UK/United States, 1942–), psycholinguistics, language acquisition Clyne, Michael George (Australia, 1939–2010), Germanic languages Cohen, Paul S. (United States), 1942–), phonology, etymology Cohen, Maurice Abraham (Australia), 1851–1923), Urdu Collitz, Hermann (Germany/United States, 1855–1935), historical linguistics Comrie, Bernard (UK, 1947–), typology Cook, Guy (UK, 1951–), applied linguistics Cook, Vivian (UK, 1940–2021), applied linguistics Corder, Stephen Pit (UK, 1918–1990), applied linguistics Coşeriu, Eugen (Romania/Germany, 1921–2002), Romance languages Couper-Kuhlen, Elizabeth (1943–), interactional linguistics Cowgill, Warren (United States, 1929–1985), Indo-European studies Cowper, Elizabeth (Canada, 1952–), syntax Creissels, Denis (France, 1943–), syntax, phonology, Niger–Congo languages, Nakh-Daghestanian languages Croft, William (United States, 1956–), syntax, cognitive linguistics Crowther, Samuel Ajayi (Nigeria, 1809–1891), Yoruba language, Igbo language Crystal, David (UK, 1941–), English language, language death, applied linguistics Cuervo, Rufino José (Colombia, 1844–1911), Spanish language, Colombian Spanish Culicover, Peter W. (United States), syntax, language change Culioli, Antoine (France, 1924–2018), general linguistics Cumakunova, Gülzura (Kyrgyzstan, 1954–), Turkic languages Curme, George Oliver, Sr. (United States, 1860–1948), German language, English language Curzan, Anne (United States), English language, Descriptivism, Prescriptivism, lexicography Calvet, Louis-Jean (France, 1942-), Sociolinguistique
D Dal, Vladimir (Russia, 1801–1872), lexicography, Russian language Dahl, Östen (Sweden, 1945–), tense and aspect in linguistic typology Darzi, Ali (Iran, 1959–), generative syntax, minimalist program