A linguist studies the production and perception of the sounds of a specific language, with respect to its physical manifestations.
Saussure considers that linguistics is a part of semiology, "the science that studies the life of signs in the bosom of social life," and defines as the linguist's task to determine why language is a special system of signs within the set of semiological facts. The linguist is versed in the science of language, which implies being a student of language and its realization in natural languages and, by extension, also in artificial languages.
