Topic
“DIACHRONIC AND SYNCHRONIC STUDY OF
LANGUAGE AND SOME PRESENT TRENDS IN
ENGLISH LANGUAGE- SLANG ,JORGAN,
REGISTER,VARIATIES OF DIALECTS ,
PIDGIN,CREOLE”
WHAT IS MEANT BY
SYNCHRONIC LINGUISTICS
SUBMITTED BY :SILPA SL
ROLL NO: 65
■ The word Synchronic comes from the Greek word ‘SYN’
which means Together and ‘KRONOS’ means Time .
■ It is also known as descriptive linguistics
■ It is a study of language at a particular time ( usually at
present) regardless of any historical consideration which
might have influenced the language.
■ It is the study of how language is spoken by a specific
speech community.
■ It does not focus on the history of language and language
evolution.
For example; studying of old English
■ Variation of language
For example; dialect,idolect etc.
■ Synchronic analysis can be made of dead language such
as Latin .
FACTORS STUDIED IN
SYNCHRONIC STUDY
■ How language Operates
■ What are the Components of Language
studied .
■ Which components helps in operation and
how different components inter related.
WHAT IS
DIACHRONIC
LINGUISTICS?
SUBMITTED BY :M S Meenakshi
ROLl No. 44
■ Diachronic linguistics basically refers to the study of language
through different periods in history.
■ Thus, it studies the historical development of language through
different periods of time.
■ This branch of linguistics is the diachronic linguistics.
1. Diachronic linguistics is one of the two main temporal dimensions
of language study identified by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de
Saussure in his Course in General Linguistics (1916).
2. Historical linguistics, also called Diachronic Linguistics, the
branch of linguistics concerned with the study of phonological,
grammatical, and semantic changes.
3. Historical linguistics, when contrasted with synchronic linguistics,
the study of a language at a particular point in time, is often called
diachronic linguistics
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SYNCHRONIC AND DIACHRONIC
LINGUISTICS?
SUBMITTED BY -:
SAARIKA S R
ROLL NO -:58
■ Synchronic linguistics and diachronic linguistics are
two main divisions of linguistics. The Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure introduced these two
branches of linguistics in his Course in General
Linguistics (1916). Overall, synchrony and
diachrony refer to a language state and to an
evolutionary phase of language.
■ Synchronic linguistics is the study of language
at any given point in time while diachronic
linguistics is the study of language through
different periods in history.
■ Thus, the main difference between synchronic
and diachronic linguistics is their focus or
viewpoint of study.
■ Diachronic linguistics is concerned with
language evolution while synchronic linguistics
is not.
■ Moreover, the latter focuses on subjects such
as comparative linguistics, etymology and
language evolution while the former focuses on
grammar, classification, and arrangement of
the features of a language.
Diachronic Linguistics and Synchronic Linguistics.
Diachronic linguistics is the kind in which we study the
historical development of language through different
periods of time.
For example, we study how Spanish, Portugese, French
and Italian have grown out of Latin.
The changes that have occurred in language with the
passage of time, are also studied under this kind of
linguistics; therefore, it is called historical linguistics.
Synchronic linguistics is not concerned with the
historical development of language.
It confines itself to the study of how a language is
spoken by a specified speech community at a particular
point of time.
It is also called ‘descriptive’ linguistics.
Diachronic linguistics studies language
change, and synchronic linguistics studies
language states without their history.
According to C.F. Hockett:
“The study of how a language works at a
given time, regardless of its past history or
future destiny, is called descriptive or
synchronic linguistics. The study of how
speech habits change as time goes by is
called historical or diachronic linguistics”
The distinction synchrony and diachrony
refers to the difference in treating language
from different points of view.
■ Though the historical character of a language cannot be
ignored, its present form being the result of definite
historical processes, changes and transformations, it is
necessary for a complete understanding of it to
concentrate on the units of its structure at the present
moment.
■ Some scholars do not see the two approaches apart.
■ They assert that it is a mistake to think of descriptive and
historical linguistics as two separate compartments.
■ However, on the whole the two areas are kept apart and
one is studied to the exclusion of the other.
■ Synchronic statements make no reference to the
previous stages in the language. Linguistic studies in the
nineteenth century were historical in character; they
originated as part of the general historical investigations
into the origins and development of cultures and
communities, especially West Asia, Egypt, etc.
■ Such philological researches viewed language at
different stages of its progress and attempted to
understand relations among different languages.
■ Language families were discovered and genetic
affinities identified.
■ For Zhirmunsky, Diachronic linguistics was a great
discovery of the 19th century:
“Which developed so powerfully and fruitfully from the
1820s to the 1880s. This discovery enabled linguists to
explain modern languages as a result of law-governed
historical development”
On a closer look one realizes that without a good
synchronic (descriptive) work, valid historical (diachronic)
postulations are not possible; in other words, a good
historical linguist needs to be thorough descriptive scholar
too.
SOME PRESENT
DAY TRENDS IN
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
- Slang-jargon , register , varieties of dialects ,
pidgin, Etc...
Jargon
Submitted by,
Arya NJ
Roll No - 19
Jargon
■ Jargon is a noun that means the words used only in specific jobs or
groups.
■ It’s the language that used in technical professions.
■ The people outside that particular field will not understand the
meaning of these words.
■ Given below are some specific fields and jargons used in them.
■ Doctors can confortably use medical jargon with one another, but
they must speak differently to patients
■ The computer repair guy tried to explain the problem with a lot of
technical jargon.
■ Lawyers contracts official documents can be difficult to understand
because they use jargon.
■ Engineering jargon:
■ CADD –Computer aided drafting and design
■ QFD – Quality Function Deployment
■ Business Jargon:
■ Bang for the buck – to get the most for your money
■ Open the kimono – to share information with an outside party
■ Over time, some jargons can become accepted words and
understood by a larger group of people. For example, words like
RAM, byte, hexadecimal, which were jargons in the computing
science, are known by everyone.
■ Slang is a colloquial variety of language that is used in
highly informal situations.
Slang
■ It is always used with people who share similar social
backgrounds and age groups.
■ This is not used in the written language.
■ A special feature of slang is that slang words do not stay in
the language for a long time.
■ Many slang words disappear, and new words come into the
language.
■ However, there are some words that were introduced to the
language as slang but have evolved into standard words.
■ For example, taxi, bogus, hoax, skyscraper, etc.
■ A new slang word can come into being in two
ways.
■ A new word can be coined or invented, or an old
word can be given a new word.
■ For example, the word wicked originally means
cruel or evil, but in slang wicked means wonderful
or excellent.
■ Gutted – feeling devasted
■ Blimey – exclamation used to remark that
something is remarkable.
■ Kick the bucket – to die
■ Adam and Eva – to believe
REGISTER
Submitted by -:
Meenu Thulasidharan
Roll No -: 45
■ In linguistics, the register is defined as
the way a speaker uses language differently
in different circumstances.
■ Think about the words you choose, your tone
of voice, even your body language.
■ You probably behave very differently chatting
with a friend than you would at a formal
dinner party or during a job interview.
■ These variations in formality, also called
stylistic variation, are known as registers in
linguistics.
■ They are determined by such factors as
social occasion, context, purpose,
and audience.
■ Registers are used in all forms of communication,
including written, spoken, and signed.
■ Depending on grammar, syntax, and tone, the
register may be extremely rigid or very intimate.
■ A huff of exasperation during a debate or a grin
while signing "hello" speaks volumes.
■ Some linguists say there are just two types of
register: formal and informal.
■ This isn't incorrect, but it is an oversimplification.
Instead, most who study language say there are five
distinct registers.
Types of Linguistic Register
■ Frozen: This form is sometimes called the static register because it refers to
historic language or communication that is intended to remain unchanged,
like a constitution or prayer.
■ Formal: Less rigid but still constrained, the formal register is used in
professional, academic, or legal settings where communication is expected to
be respectful, uninterrupted, and restrained.
■ Consultative: People use this register often in conversation when they're
speaking with someone who has specialized knowledge or who is offering
advice.
■ Casual: This is the register people use when they're with friends, close
acquaintances and co-workers, and family.
■ Intimate: Linguists say this register is reserved for special occasions, usually
between only two people and often in private.
Varieties of Dialects
■ The notion is usually interpreted geographically (regional dialect), but it also
has some application in relation to a person’s social background (class
dialect) or occupation (occupational dialect).
■ The word dialect comes from the Ancient Greek dialektos “discourse,
language, dialect,” which is derived from dialegesthai “to discourse, talk.”
■ A dialect is chiefly distinguished from other dialects of the same language by
features of linguistic structure—
i.e., grammar (specifically morphology and syntax) and vocabulary.
■ In morphology (word formation), various dialects in the Atlantic states
have clim, clum, clome, or cloome instead of climbed, and, in syntax
(sentence structure), there are “sick to his stomach,” “sick at his stomach,”
“sick in,” “sick on,” and “sick with.”
■ Although some linguists include phonological features (such as vowels,
consonants, and intonation) among the dimensions of dialect, the standard
practice is to treat such features as aspects of accent.
■ In the sound system of American English, for example, some speakers
pronounce greasy with an “s” sound, while others pronounce it with a “z”
sound.
■ Accent differences of this kind are extremely important as regional
and class indicators in every language.
■ Their role is well recognized in Great Britain, for example, where
the prestige accent, called Received Pronunciation, is used as an educated
standard and differences in regional accent, both rural and urban, are
frequent.
■ There is far less accent variation in Canada, Australia, and large parts of the
United States.
Varieties of dialects
■ Geographic dialects
■ The most widespread type of dialectal differentiation is regional, or
geographic. As a rule, the speech of one locality differs at least slightly from
that of any other place.
■ Differences between neighboring local dialects are usually small, but, in
traveling farther in the same direction, differences accumulate.
■ Social dialects
■ Another important axis of differentiation is that of social strata. In many
localities, dialectal differences are connected with social classes, educational
levels, or both.
■ More-highly educated speakers and, often, those belonging to a higher social
class tend to use more features belonging to the standard language, whereas
the original dialect of the region is better preserved in the speech of the lower
and less-educated classes.
PIDGIN
■
In linguistics, a pidgin (pronounced PIDG-in) is a simplified form
of speech formed out of one or more existing languages and used
as a lingua franca by people who have no other language in
common.
■
Also known as a pidgin language or an auxiliary language.
■
English pidgins include Nigerian Pidgin English, Chinese Pidgin
English, Hawaiian Pidgin English, Queensland Kanaka English, and
Bislama (one of the official languages of the Pacific island nation of
Vanuatu).
■
Pidgin derives from a Chinese pronunciation of the English
word business, and all attestations from the first half of the
nineteenth century given in the third edition of the Oxford English
Dictionary mean "business; an action, occupation, or affair"
Examples
■
The following pidgins have Wikipedia articles or sections in articles. Many of these
languages are commonly referred to by their speakers as "Pidgin".
Turku language
■
West Greenlandic Pidgin
■
Yokohama Pidgin Japanese
■
Barikanchi Pidgin
■
Broken Slavey and Loucheux Jargon
■
Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin
■
Camtho
THANK YOU
- Group B