A synchronic state in a language is a layer of diachronic changes. Understanding of diachronic changes can help to get at the truth of synchronic phenomena. In addition, it is possible to examine the adequacy of a synchronic grammar through the diachr...
A synchronic state in a language is a layer of diachronic changes. Understanding of diachronic changes can help to get at the truth of synchronic phenomena. In addition, it is possible to examine the adequacy of a synchronic grammar through the diachronic dimension. Diachronic changes have intimate relationships with synchronic descriptions. But a synchronic description is not a recapitulation of diachronic changes. There are many differences between the synchrony and diachrony. In this study, we will classify phonological changes, and then consider the reason why the synchrony is not congrous with the diachorny. Phonological changes can be arranged into four groups : rule insertion, rule loss, change of rule environment, change of phonological system.
When a new rule inserted, it is applied to concrete forms showing up in surface. The stem of verb of adjective in Korean cannot be used by itself. Instead it always is connected with conjugated endings : the form made by connection of stem and ending is called conjugational form. In surface, each conjugational form of the same stem is realised in different shape. So a new rule can be applied to some conjugational form, but not to other. Due to this, the phonological tightness between the conjugational form applied to by a new rule and the conjugational form not applied is destroyed in many cases. When the phonological distance of conjugational forms are made too far, many difficulties appear in synchronic phonological description.
A rule loss have a deep impact on the synchronic phonological description. In general a rule loss bring about the restructuring in underlying form, when it occurred morpheme-internally, and retrieval into the previous stage where the rule disappearing has not been introduced, when it occurred in morpheme-internal. But sometimes rule loss is related with telescoping, and then some different things result. In this situation, the lost rule cannot be a synchronic rule, the synchronic description has different contents from the historical dimension.
The rule environment appear newly or disappear on account of following changes. On occasion the existing rule is not applied to the new environment. And there are some cases where the existing rule is applied to although the rule environment disappeared. For the sake of the synchronic description of these, we must use the rule ordering, and diacritics representing rule exception. Sometimes we may list the conjugational from in lexicon.
Changes of phonological system are one of the main mechanism having some effect on the synchronic phonological description. As to a phoneme loss, in spite of the contrast between two phonemes vanishing, there are some cases where the contrast doesn't go away. The description of this type have to get over many barriers. The mergers of phonemes show similar aspects.