Linguistic research methods lecture 10 Plan

Linguistic research methods

LECTURE 10

Plan

• Synchronic research methods: distributive and statistic methods.
• Conceptual analyses and experimental methods

Synchronic research methods

The Synchronic Linguistics studies language at a given period of time. Synchronic means contemporary. The synchronic linguistics studies how a language works at a given time, regardless of its past history or future blueprint. It can also be called as descriptive linguistics. If a linguist studies present day English used by foreigners, it will be synchronic study of English at present time. The outcomes and theories of the synchronic studies offer particularly accurate information about a language in its current usage.

The synchronic approach analyses the similarities and differences of languages at a given point of time by focusing on their structural features and characteristics and by using phonological, morphological, and syntactic explanations, including semantic and pragmatic aspects. 

The synchronic approach analyses the similarities and differences of languages at a given point of time by focusing on their structural features and characteristics and by using phonological, morphological, and syntactic explanations, including semantic and pragmatic aspects. 

What is a synchronic method?

So, the synchronic method means studying any aspect of language solely in one particular period of time (typically the present), without taking into account other periods of time in that language's history.

Distributive method

It is a method of linguistic research in which the classification of linguistic units and the study of their features are carried out on the basis of the distribution of the units in question in spoken chain – that is, on the basis of their combinability with other units, which are called the environment or context of the units in question. Distributive analysis was devised by representatives of so-called descriptive linguistics.