Linguist or Philologist

Recently, for the first time I was called a "philologist". It was actually in the Catalan forum where I sometimes participate. It was also stated in the comment section of the entry: Studying Catalan: Observations. I did not know the true meaning of what a philologist was or did. Looking it up in Dictionary.com, it says the following about philology: The study of language, especially in a philosophical manner and as a science; the investigation of the laws of human speech, the relation of different tongues to one another, and historical development of languages; linguistic science. Note: Philology comprehends a knowledge of the etymology, or origin and combination of words; grammar, the construction of sentences, or use of words in language; criticism, the interpretation of authors, the affinities of different languages, and whatever relates to the history or present state of languages. It sometimes includes rhetoric, poetry, history, and antiquities. When I read it, I stopped for a minute to think. That definition encapsulates in what I am interested... what I am. Truly, before, I used to think of myself as simply a linguist. I thought that what I would do in life would earn me the title of a 'linguist'. However, reading that changed my perspective. In reality, I am a philologist 'at heart', like I was called. Everything that is said in that definition is what attracts my undivided attention in the languages that I speak; not just be able to speak them, but to know about why, where, and how they came to be what they are. Mario Pei in "A Brief History of Romance Philology and Linguistics" sums up the relationship between philology and linguistics: Philology, more than linguistics, delves into historical causes and effects. A "pure" linguist of the more descriptive persuation asks the question: "Why do English speakers refer to an animal of a certain kind as a 'horse'?" He answers it in this fashion: "Because that is what their ancestors called it, as far back as the English language can be traced." A philologist is not satisfied with th is answer. he wants to know the whys, the wherefores, and the hows. This leads him into historical as well as purely linguistic research.