The essentialness of diachrony Cover Image

The essentialness of diachrony
The essentialness of diachrony

Author(s): Alexandru Gafton
Subject(s): Historical Linguistics, Philosophy of Language, Editorial
Published by: Editura Universităţii »Alexandru Ioan Cuza« din Iaşi
Keywords: organism; evolution; diachrony; synchrony

Summary/Abstract: Natural entities—plants and animals, on the one hand, society, language, and culture, on the other—emerge through an assiduous diachronic effort, respond to diachronically developed needs, exist and function diachronically. However, through the instruments at his disposal, man can only perceive and grasp the “fragment”, seizing it for a prolonged instant, which explains his objective tendency to segment the spatiotemporal reality according to his own proportions and abilities. Reality itself, however, cannot be subjected to the unnatural segregation of one of its own products and elements, and cannot be fully comprehended in any other way than how it exists: as a whole. At the end of the synchronic road, what offers comprehension and understanding of the ontologically-becoming whole is the path of the diachronic method.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 1-12
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: English