Introducing English Linguistics

synchronic
and 
diachronic
studies of language.
Synchronic studies involve investigating a language in its present form as
it is currently spoken and written. A synchronic study of English would
focus on Contemporary English: the current version of English spoken
around the world. Diachronic studies, in contrast, examine the historical
development of a language, taking into consideration changes it has
undergone over time. The changes that English experienced have led to
the positing of five distinct forms of English: Old English, Middle English,
Early Modern English, Modern English, and Contemporary English.
Various historical and linguistic events led to changes in English over
time. For instance, the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 ushered in
the French influence on the English language, an influence that was so
significant, particularly in the area of vocabulary, that linguists saw the
need to distinguish Old English from Middle English.
Even though it is useful to distinguish between synchronic and diachron-
ic studies of language, the distinction is somewhat misleading, since lan-
guages are always changing, and how English is spoken today, for instance,
will differ from how it is spoken next year. Of course, the difference will be
small – much smaller than the difference between Old English and Modern
English. But it is important to realize that languages are dynamic, not static,
entities. They are always changing – in response to external forces (e.g. the
desire in many English-speaking cultures for gender-neutral vocabulary), or
as a consequence of internal changes within the language (e.g. irregular
verbs becoming regular, such as strived replacing strove in the past tense).
Because of external and internal influences, English has changed quite
significantly from the Old English period to the present. But perhaps one
of the more striking changes concerns the rise of English as an interna-
tional language. During the Old English period, English was a language
spoken exclusively in England. But over time, it has become a language
spoken across the globe, a change in the status of English that serves as
the focus of discussion in the next section.
According to the Ethnologue: Languages of the World, English is one of approxi-
mately 6,900 living languages in the world (Gordon 2005: 16; see also
www.ethnologue.com). Many of these languages have relatively few speakers;
a small subset of them are widely spoken. Table 2.1 lists some of the most
commonly spoken languages, and the number of individuals who speak
them as a first or second language. Figures in this table are given in millions
and are based on information in Gordon (2005), the World Almanac, 
and  Wikipedia’s “List of Languages by Number of Native Speakers”
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers,
accessed June 6, 2008).