Synchronic and diachronic approaches in linguistics, Competence and Performance short notes

Synchronic And Diachronic approaches in linguistics

Short Notes on Synchronic and Diachronic approaches

Synchronic is the study of a language in a given time . The synchronic approach sees language as a living whole , existing as a state at one particular time this state of language is accumulation of all the linguistics activities that a language community engages in during a specific period . Tu study languages therefore , linguistics can collect sample of this language as it exists , describing them regardless of any historical consideration which may have influenced the language of any previous time in synchronic approach the time factor becomes irrelevant .

Synchronic and Diachronic approaches in linguistics

The Diachronic approaches on the other hand " Trace " the historical development of the language and records the changes that have taken place in it between successive points in time . For e:g The way in which French and Italian have sanskrit it also investigates language changes .

Synchronic linguistics deals with systems , synchronic linguistics will be concerned with the logical and psychological relation that binds together coexisting terms and form a system in the collective mind of speakers .

 Diachronic linguistics in the contrary , studies relation that bind together successive term not perceived by the collective mind but substituted for each other without forming a system , Diachronic linguistics deals with units .


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Competence and Performance

Short notes on competence and performance

Noam Chomsky's concept of competence and  Performance is somewhat similar to the Saussure's concept of language and parole . Chomsky is the native speaker knowledge of his language. The System of rules he has mastered , his ability to produce and understand a vast no. Of new sentences . Competence is the study of the system of rules , whereas performance is the study of actual sentences , themselves of the actual use of the language in real life situation.

So , the speaker knowledge of the structure of a language in his linguistics competence and the way in which they uses it , is his linguistics performance.

Competence is a set of principles which a speaker , masters , performance is what a speaker does. The former is a kind of code , The tattor is an act of encoding or decoding. Competence concerns the kind of structure the person has succeeded in mastering and internalising,whether or not he utilizes then , in practice without interference from many of the factors that play a role in actual behavior , competence in any sphere can be identified with capacity or ability, as opposed actual performance .competence in linguistics is the linguistics ability the ability to produce and understand indefinitely many novel sentences it refers to the native speaker innate creativity and productivity implicit in the normal use of language .

Although Chomsky's competence and performance closely resembles Saussure's langue and parole ,yet the main difference is that Saussure's stressed the sociological implication of Language while Chomsky stresses the psychological implications of competence.