linguisticians

[Mark A. Mandel]

Larry writes:

>>>>>
How do others feel about the distinction between "dialectologist" and
"dialectician"?
<<<<<

I maintain it. A dialectician, as far as I'm concerned, deals with
dialectic (argument, history, Marxist...), and a dialectologist studies
dialect.

As for "linguist", in non-professional contexts I usually say "I'm a
linguist, a scientist of language", and get the distinction in at the
start.

"Asking a linguist how many languages she speaks is like asking a doctor
how many diseases he has."

   Mark A. Mandel : Dragon Systems, a Lernout & Hauspie company
          Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com : Senior Linguist
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02460, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com
                     (speaking for myself)