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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
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