synchronic

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

By surface analysis, syn- +‎ chron- +‎ -ic; historically, see synchronous § Etymology.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

synchronic (not comparable)

  1. Occurring at a specific point in time.
    Antonym: diachronic
  2. (linguistics) Relating to the study of a language at only one point in its history.
    Antonym: diachronic
    • 2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes[1], page 300:
      The three texts that contain a more modern selection of lexis, Sengupta, Nihalani et al, and Mahal, being entirely synchronic, also suffer from a lack of historical perspective.

Usage notes[edit]

  • (linguistics, relating to the study of a language at only one point in its history): Synchronic comparison of two languages focuses on categorizing phenomena typologically, whereas a diachronic comparison may be looking for common origins or causes of these phenomena, viewed as genetic relationships.

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