SYNCHRONIC STUDY

8/7/2019 SYNCHRONIC STUDY

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SYNCHRONIC

AND

DIACHRONIC

STUDY


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DEFINITION

Language can be studied at a givenpoint in time or over time. When we

study language at one particular time, itis called synchronic linguistics.When we study language developments

through time, it is called diachronic orhistorical linguistics.


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to describe and account for observed changesin particular languages

to reconstruct the pre-history of languages

and determine their relatedness, groupingthem into language families

to develop general theories about how andwhy language changes

to describe the history of speech communities

to study the history of words


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Structural linguistics concern the:

-Phonology (sounds)-Morphology (words)-Syntax (sentence structure)-Semantics (meaning)

-Pragmatics or grammar (rules)An important distinction between langue

and parole (F. de. Saussure);

Langue is the system of conventionsand signs while parole is the speech of

the individual


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Distinctions:

(1) Langue is the whole system of language thatprecedes and makes speech possible. Asign is abasic unit of langue. Parole isthe speech ofthe individual.

(2) Langue is the social, conventional side oflanguage, while parole is individualized speech.(3) Langue is the code, and parole is themessage.(4) Parole the concrete use of the language, theactual utterances. It is an external manifestationof langue. It is the usage of the system, but notthe system. Langue is the abstract knowledge


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Sapir believes in the deductive theories andpsychological approach to grammar explanation;

He believes that each language should be

described in its term based on basic categories

(nouns and verb) and basic grammatical processes

(ordering of words) which has universal elements;

Grammar resulted from the economy of thought

and speech;Yet no language system is always consistentSapirs interest was in the relations betweenexternal grammatical and internal psychological

processes

DEDUCTIVE THEORIES AND

PSYCHOLOGY


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Bloomfield (1933) constructs a model

that describe processes that take place

in the mind;

The stimulus-response model supportsthe claim that language was a habit ofverbal behavior which consisted of a

series of stimuli and response;He believes that the description of alanguage should begin with phonology;

BEHAVIORAL PSCHOLOGY:

STIMULUS-RESPONSE MODEL


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DESCRIPTIVE OR

STRUCTURAL LINGUISTIC

after Bloomfield, other descriptive

linguists tried to separate grammar and

semantics completely;phonemic analysis involved the

consideration of stress, pitch, and

juncture, or degree of separation(suprasegmental phoneme)


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TRANSFORMATIONAL

GRAMMAR : Discourse Analysis

Transformation is another process of

analysing discourse whereby connected

speech or writing can be analysedinstead of the whole sentence;

This process would enable linguists to

analyse active/passive sentences andrelationship among discontinuous

elements


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According to

Chomsky , a person is ableto produce infinite number of sentences

and that language can be used

creatively;Transformationalists are interested inrules for sentence formation which

account for a native speakers linguisticintuition;


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TRANSFORMATIONAL

GRAMMAR : Theory of Syntax

Agrammar is said to consist of thefollowing parts:

(a) Asyntactic component (word order)(b) Asemantic component (meaning)(c) Aphonological component (sound)


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SOCIOLINGUISTICS: Functional

varieties of Languagea language with many varieties, all have

the legitimate functions in different social

situations;The ability to vary style and to recognise

the social value of different forms is part of

an individuals competence.


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WORDS ANDWORD GROUPS

Jespersen separates words and wordgroups are divided into three:

Primary (nouns)

Secondary (verbs and adjectives)Tertiary (particles)

Degree of connection called juncture

(single composite idea) and nexus(connection of two ideas) are also dealt

with;


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Some subordinate member

(clauses/phrases) can be raised to higherlevel and the type of connection is altered;

nominalisation is the conversion of

sentences into noun phrases;E.g. The doctor arrivedcan be changed

into The doctors arrival


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WORDS ANDWORD GROUPS

Jespersen separates words and wordgroups are divided into three:

Primary (nouns)

Secondary (verbs and adjectives)Tertiary (particles)

Degree of connection called juncture

(single composite idea) and nexus(connection of two ideas) are also dealt

with;


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Form and meaning of words change overtime;The change can be both organic and imitativesound changes and external sound changes;changes of form (sound) and meaning areoften caused by having the majority ofspeakers on its side, or because it is more

convenient or easier to carry out.some words change in two or more differentways, according to its surroundings;

E.g. the indefinite article an drops its /n/ before anotherword beginning with a consonant, as in a man


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Some words resemble each other in terms of formand meaning;

This may lead to modification by linguistic changesthrough either convergence or divergence changes;convergent changes cause the leveling ofdistinctions between the words in term of phonetic

or to cause words to have similar meaning;e.g. no and know have both the same

initial phonic /n/ (homomyms)buy and purchase re synonymous

Divergent change cause a sound-change in the of,and off.


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Isolation often leads to the creation of new

grammatical categories;It detaches a word from its elements as in anidiom and a general sentence;The development of proper names out ofcommon nouns and adjectives is also a processof isolation such as Brown and Smith ascompared to brown and smith;

the use of nouns and adjectives asParticles is also a process of isolation.


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One principle of grammar of any language is to

teach learners to express themselves withappropriateness in that language and to enablethem to ascertain whether the phrase and form

of construction, is right or not.(a) What is prescriptive grammar?(b) Why is there a need to teach grammar to

our school children?


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(a) it tells how people should use language inspeaking and writing

(b)a. Comprehensibility communicate meaning

successfully

b. Acceptability to be accepted into the communityof native speakers

c. The language of grammar is a shared language fortalking about speech and writing


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d. Knowing about grammar can help writers

take control of their writing: they can craftand create because they understand whatthey are doing

e.Knowing about grammar can help readersexplore how texts operate and how their

messages and effects are created

Documents

SYNCHRONIC STUDY