Synchronic? |
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Synchronic linguistics deals with a language at a specific point in time; it is opposed to diachronic linguistics (also called historical linguistics), which deals with how languages change over time.
By extension, a synchronic process in a language is one that is exhibited at a specific time, as opposed to a process that occurs over time. For example, in English, there is a synchronic distinction between the pronouns he and she: both are used, with different meanings. By contrast, there is a diachronic distinction between the suffixes -eth and -s/-es: the suffix -eth was once used exclusively, and now -s/-es is used exclusively. (In the transitional period, both were used, and one might say that there was a synchronic distinction at the time.)
The term synchronic also has uses outside of linguistics; for example, in modern philosophy of mind, it is employed to analyze the facilitation of immediate conscious awareness in relatively brief time scales (such as 100 milliseconds).
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