Saturday, March 21, 2020
Definition and Examples of Synchronic Linguistics
Definition and Examples of Synchronic Linguistics Synchronic linguistics is the study of a language at one particular period (usually the present). It is also known as descriptive linguistics or general linguistics. Key Takeaways: Synchronistic Linguistics Synchronistic linguistics is the study of a language at a particular time.In contrast, diachronic linguistics studies the development of a language over time.Synchronistic linguistics is often descriptive, analyzing how the parts of a language or grammar work together. For example: A synchronic study of language is a comparison of languages or dialects- various spoken differences of the same language- used within some defined spatial region and during the same period of time, wrote Colleen Elaine Donnelly in Linguistics for Writers. Determining the regions of the United States in which people currently say pop rather than soda and idea rather than idear are examples of the types of inquiries pertinent to a synchronic study.State University of New York Press, 1994 Synchronistic views look at a language as if its static and not changing. Languages continually evolve, though its slow enough that people dont notice it much while its happening. The term was coined by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. That for which he is now most known was just a portion of his contributions to academia; his specialty was the analysis of Indo-European languages, and his work generally studied languages over time, or diachronic (historical) linguistics. Synchronic vs. Diachronic Approaches Synchronic linguistics is one of the two main temporal dimensions of language study introduced by Saussure in his Course in General Linguistics (1916). The other is diachronic linguistics, which is the study of language through periods of time in history. The first looks at a snapshot of a language, and the other studies its evolution (like a frame of film vs. a movie). For example, analyzing the word order in a sentence in Old English only would be a study in synchronistic linguistics. If you looked at how word order changed in a sentence from Old English to Middle English and now to modern English, that would be a diachronic study. Say you need to analyze how historical events affected a language. If you look at when the Normans conquered England in 1066 and brought with them a lot of new words to be injected into English, a diachronic look could analyze what new words were adopted, which ones fell out of use, and how long that process took for select words. A synchronic study might look at the language at different points before the Normans or after. Note how you need a longer time period for the diachronic study than the synchronic one. Consider this example: When people had more opportunities to change their social class in the 1600s, they started using the words thee and thou less often. If they didnt know the social class of the person they were addressing, theyd use the formal pronoun you to be safely polite, leading to the demise of thee and thou in English. This would be a diachronic look. A description of the words and how they were used at the time in comparison to the pronoun you would be a synchronic description. Before Saussure, it was considered that the only true scientific study of a language could be diachronic, but both approaches are useful. In the third edition of Synchronic English Linguistics: An Introduction, the authors explain the types of historical linguistics: As it is necessary to know how a system works at any given time before one can hope to understand changes, the analysis of language at a single point in time, i.e. synchronic linguistics, now usually precedes the study in terms of diachronic linguistics. (Paul Georg Meyer et al., Gunter Nar Verlag, 2005) Synchronic studies look at what associates with what (how parts interact) at any given time. Diachronic studies look at what causes what and how things change over time. Examples of Synchronic Study Synchronic linguistics is descriptive linguistics, such as the study of how parts of a language (morphs or morphemes) combine to form words and phrases and how proper syntax gives a sentence meaning. In the 20th century the search for a universal grammar, that which is instinctive in humans and gives them the ability to pick up their native language as an infant, is a synchronic area of study. Studies of dead languages can be synchronic, as by definition they are no longer spoken (no native or fluent speakers) nor evolving and are frozen in time.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Understanding Object Pronoun Verb Order in French
Understanding Object Pronoun Verb Order in French Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them. There are two kinds of object pronouns, direct and indirect. Beginning students of French tend to misplace them and the result can be nonsense to the French ear. The rule of thumb: Place object pronouns before the verb, with the indirect going before the direct object pronoun. When the verb is in the passà © composà © or another compound verb that includes an auxiliary verb, the pronoun precedes the entire verb; in other words, before the auxiliary verb, which is the conjugated avoir or à ªtre. The Correct Format Its never correct to say Jai lui dit. The pronoun lui goes before ai, which begins the compound verb, like this: Je lui ai dit (Im telling him). The major exception is the imperative mood (limperatif), when object pronouns follow the verb: Donne-le-lui (Give it to him/her). Here are some examples of the correct format: Tu las vu? Have you seen it?Je lui ai dit la và ©rità ©. I told him/her the truth.Il leur achà ¨te des livres.  He buys books for them. Elle ma à ©crit.  She wrote to me. *Je te lavais bien dit! I told you so! *In this example, there is both an indirect (te) and direct (le) object. Remember, the indirect object always comes first. The verb is still compound, but now the tense is plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) with the auxiliary verb in the imparfait (imperfect). So the object pronouns precede avais, which is the auxiliary verb here. Indirect Object Pronouns For indirect objects, the verbs action occurs to or for a person or other animate noun. Im talking to Pierre. Je parle  Pierre.To whom am I talking? To Pierre. Indirect object pronouns are the words that replace the name of the indirect object. They include:    me / m   me   te / t   you   lui   him, her   nous   us   vous   you   leur   them Me and te change to m and t, respectively, in front of a vowel or mute H. Direct Object Pronouns Direct objects are the people or things in a sentence that receive the action of the verb. To find the direct object in a sentence, ask who or what. I see Pierre. Je vois Pierre.Who do I see? Pierre. Direct object pronouns are the words that replace the direct object, so that we can avoid endlessly repeating the name of the object. They include:    me / m   me   te / t   you   le / l   him, it   la / l   her, it   nous   us   vous   you   les   them Me and te change to m and t, respectively, in front of a vowel or mute H. Le and la both change to l. Remember that both indirect object pronouns and direct object pronouns precede the verb, with the indirect object pronoun going first. When deciding between direct and indirect objects, the general rule is that if the object is preceded by the preposition  or pour, that object is an indirect object. If its not preceded by a preposition, its a direct object. If its preceded by any other preposition, it cant be replaced by an object pronoun. If you have an indirect object thats not a person or animal, it can only be replaced with the adverbial pronouns y and en. Y stands in for  a noun and usually means there or to it. En replaces de a noun and usually means some, any, one, or of it/them.
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