Diachrony

An opposition introduced by Saussure to describe two aspects of language and two contrasting approaches to linguistics. The synchronic approach studies the state of a language at a given stage of its evolution and facilitates the analysis of the system of internal relations that constitutes it as a language. THe diachronic approach typical of philology traces the historical evolution of a language through time by recording the changes that have taken place in it. Most schools of modern linguistics can be described as synchronic.

See Also

• Linguistics
• Language
• Diachrony

References

SYNCHRONY/DIACHRONY (273) CD SYNCHRONY/DIACHRONY (273) Diacrhonic 37 HOMOR