LANGUAGE APPROACHES

Phonemes and Descriptive and Prescriptive Approaches to Language

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION1

DISCUSSION1

Descriptive and Prescriptive Approaches to Language2

Descriptive Approach3

Prescriptive Approach4

Descriptive Versus Prescriptive Norms5

CONCLUSION5

REFERENCES7

Phonemes and Descriptive and Prescriptive Approaches to Language

Introduction

Phonemes can be described as the physical correspondent of the speech sound. J. Baudouin de Courtenay was the person who gave this definition of phonemes. This description of phoneme was unsustainable. It is because different speech sounds can correspond to the same phoneme. Further, each sound can have its own psychic equivalent. This definition was untenable because speech sound is a concrete and positive entity (Turbetskoi, 1969, pp. 37).

There are several features and definitions of the phoneme. The phoneme can be defined as a basic unit of the phonological level of language. It is a combination of features including articulatory, acoustic and auditory. These features enable users to distinguish a sound, on the foundation of complex of features, from other sounds (Bican, 2005, pp.1).

Therefore, phonemes are units which are based on the trait qualities of a certain type of sounds.

Discussion

In order to segregate compound sounds, the distinctive approach can be used. For example, in the word cat three phonemes can be distinguished consequent to the letters c, a, and t. These three are actually unit sounds. It is not possible to form a different word by replacing the 'c' sound or substituting part of the 'a' sound by a distinct sound. In order to make a suitable word, it is necessary to replace the whole phoneme. Therefore, it can be said that the sound of 'c' in the word 'cat' is a unit sound. It is because this 'c' sound can be eradicated to change cat in to 'at'.

Phoneme is a distinctive unit sound of a language. It is necessary to substitute the whole phoneme in order to make a different and unique word (Edward, 1925, pp. 38).

Descriptive and Prescriptive Approaches to Language

The terms descriptive and prescriptive approaches refer to different statements of linguists. Descriptive and prescriptive approaches commonly use grammar and linguistics collocations. These terms are used in the connotations as descriptive linguistics, descriptive grammar, and prescriptive grammar. The term descriptive has different meanings in these contexts.

Descriptive linguistics refers to the study and description of a language structure that exists at a particular development stage. This study does not make any reference to the histories of language structure.

The focus of descriptive and prescriptive grammar is different. This juxtaposition has to do with the objective accounts of how the language is and the subjective accounts of how it should be (Bonvillian and Bohannon, 2000, pp. 259).

According to Greenbaum (1996), descriptive grammar describes the grammar rules objectively. This approach takes into account what actually occurs. On the other side, prescriptive grammar involves an evaluation of what is correct or what is incorrect.

Linguists have conducted several studies to distinguish between descriptive and perspective approaches to language. It is because they reflect accord within some community (Milroy, 1992, pp. 330).

Prescriptive grammar explains which means of expressions are good at the ...