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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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41409.05 – Linguists

Linguists study the origin, structure and development of languages and apply linguistic theory to problems in teaching, translation and communications.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Etymologist
  • Linguist
  • Sociolinguist

Core competencies

  • Writing to communicate linguistic findings clearly and persuasively through written reports, articles and books
  • Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking to remain up-to-date on research in linguistics to study the development of languages and to incorporate new findings into linguistic research
  • Verbal Ability and Speech Clarity to communicate findings and analyses to a diverse audience, including policymakers, the public and other professionals
  • Inductive Reasoning to form hypotheses based on data to develop theories about the structure of language, slang use or cultural implications of language
  • Attention to Detail to ensure accurate analysis and interpretation of complex linguistic data, including phonetic transcriptions, grammatical structures and language patterns
  • Knowledge in Languages to understand the principles and methods used to study the evolution of languages, language structures and families, and advance knowledge in the field

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Study the origin, structure and development of languages and apply linguistic theory to problems in teaching, translation and communications.

Additional information

  • Specialize in particular areas of social sciences and humanities disciplines. These include gerontologists (specialists in the phenomena and problems of aging), graphoanalysts (specialists in handwriting analysis) and others.
  • Specialization usually exists within each of these occupations and is usually obtained through university study or through experience.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

  • College and other vocational instructors (41210)
  • Secondary school teachers (41220)
  • Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers (41403)

NOC hierarchy breakdown

O*NET in-it

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