DESCRIPTIVE' AND 'PRESCRIPTIVE' APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE

Descriptive' and 'Prescriptive' Approaches to Language

Descriptive' and 'Prescriptive' Approaches to Language

Introduction

The phonemes are no atoms, but "contrasting in particular sound properties". According to the characteristics that distinguish one phoneme from another, are also distinctive features mentioned. Phonetics is the possibility to be considered as sets of phonemes (distinctive) features to form the basis of select features of phonemes and the phoneme as a phoneme.

In part, it says that in the phonological theories that mostly worked exclusively with distinctive features, there assuredly was no more phonemes and symbols like "/ p /" "would be considered only as a convenient abbreviation of features". Elsewhere it can be emphasizing that the determination of the phoneme as the smallest significant differentiating unit "refers to the smallest in the sequence of successive units" relate what "(close) a breakdown not in yet smaller simultaneously in phoneme bundled features from".

Discussion and Analysis

The number of phonemes of a language is finite and limited in each language and potentially definable number of allophones, especially if you specify phonetic features subtle, is potentially unlimited and varies according to the phonetic context and linguistic articulation of speakers, their dedicated study called experimental phonetics. Regarding the number of phonemes does not have to be fixed, and can change language change, in fact, in a given time might be able to build two phonological systems with differing numbers of phonemes if they get more composite pronunciation rules (Trask, 1999, 67-122).



Phonemes as Mental Entities

In the course of language acquisition a child learns, what phonetic characteristics of a sound for the meaning of a word are essential and which not. In the course of this process, resulting categories can be viewed as mental correspondences (representations) of the originally defined purely linguistic phonemes. According to this view, phonemes have an independent existence in the mental processing of speech of a speaker system: The system uses information in language processing run on these units.

Approach descriptive, prescriptive approach

Much of the research performed is purely descriptive linguistics: linguists seek to clarify the nature of language without passing value judgments. There are a large number of the professionals and amateurs who do not come off a normative point of view, closer to that of the grammar (Wray, 2006, 56-78).

Individual Speakers, Language Communities and Universal Characteristics of Language

Several approaches are possible depending on the linguistic scope of the subject of study: some analyze the ...