Synchronic and diachronic approaches to the study of word formation contents chapter I

1.2 Synchronic approach

Synchronic and diachronic linguistics
Definition	Synchronic approach: The branch of linguistics that analyzes the structure of a language or languages as static, at given point in their history	Diachronic approach: The branch of linguistics that stud language through different periods in history
Time	Study of language at any given point in time	Study of language through different periods in history
History of language and Language evolution	Does not focus on the history of language and language evolution	Focuses on the history of language and language evolution
Study	Grammar, classification and arrangement of the features of a language	Comparative linguistics, etymology, language evolution

²Two principal approaches are applied in the science of language: the
synchronic and the diachronic one. With regard to word formation the synchronic
linguist would study the present day system of formatting words types while the
scholar of the diachronic school would write the history of word formation .
The study of a language at a certain time is known as synchronic linguistics (usually the present). It is often referred to as broad linguistics or descriptive linguistics. According to Colleen Elaine Donnelly in "Linguistics for Writers," "a synchronic study of language is a comparison of languages or dialects—various spoken variants of the same language—used within some defined physical region and throughout the same period of time."

Synchronistic viewpoints treat a language as though it were constant and unchanging. Though it happens slowly enough that few people pay attention to it while it's happening, languages are constantly changing.

Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist, is the author of the phrase. His work usually investigated the evolution of languages through time, or diachronic (historical) linguistics; what he is now best known for was only a subset of his contributions to academia. His area of expertise was the examination of Indo-European languages.
One of the two primary temporal aspects of language research that Saussure presented in his "Course in General Linguistics" is synchronic linguistics (1916). The other is diachronic linguistics, which examines language across historical eras. The first takes a moment in time to study a language, whereas the second explores its development (like a frame of film vs. a movie). An example of a synchronistic linguistics research would be to just examine the word order in an Old English phrase.
Study of a language at a certain moment is known as synchronic linguistics. A specific period in the past or the present may be the time being investigated. Synchronic analysis may even be performed on languages that are no longer spoken, such as Latin.
The study of how components of a language (morphs or morphemes) come together to form words and phrases, as well as how good syntax gives a sentence meaning, is known as synchronic linguistics. A synchronous field of research in the 20th century is the quest for a universal grammar—that which is innate in people and enables them to learn their first language at an early age. Since "dead" languages are by definition no longer spoken (there are no native or proficient speakers), changing, and fixed in time, studies of them can be synchronic.
Synchronically we study those of word formation which characterize the present-day English linguistic system, while diachronically we investigate the history of word formation. The synchronic type of word formation does not always coincide with the historical system of word formation. Synchronically the most important and the most productive ways of word formation are: affixation, conversion, word-composition. Besides them there are other types of word formation such as: shortening, sound interchange, blending, back-formation. In the course of the historical development of a language the productivity of this or that way of word formation changes.
³ Synchronically the most important and the most productive ways of wordformation are: affixation, conversion, word-composition. Besides them thereare other types of wordformation such as: shortening, soundinterchange, blending,back-formation. In the course of the historical development of a language the productivity of this or that way of wordformation changes. For example. soundinterchange (blood — bleed, strike — stroke) was a productive way of wordformation in old English and it is an important subjectmatter for a diachronic study of the English language. Soundinterchange has lost its productivity in Modern English and no new words can be formed by means ofsoundinterchange. Affixation on the contrary was productive in Old English and is still one of the most productive ways of wordformation in Modern English.