1. Some Distinctions in Linguistics

2. Descriptivism & Prescriptivism Synchronic & diachronic Speech & writing Language & parole Competence & performance Traditional grammar & modern linguistics

3. Descriptivism and prescriptivism The distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and describing how things actually are. Descriptivism proposes that the task of linguists is to describe, to record the facts of linguistic diversity.

4. Prescriptivism means rules will be laid down for the correct use of language. Descriptivism is favored and more reasonable. There is still some place for prescriptivism. E.g. to popularize the common spoken Chinese

5. Synchronic & diachronic Synchronic description of language is the study of language at a particular time. E.g. old English; middle English; modern English; classical Chinese…

6. Diachronic linguistics is the study of a language through the course of its history. An essay entitled "On the Use of THE", for example, may be synchronic, if the author does not recall the past of THE; and it may also be diachronic if he claims to cover a large range or period of time wherein THE has undergone tremendous changes in use.

7. Speech & writing Spoken language is primary and writing derived from it. reasons: All normal children learn to speak before they learn to read or write. Every language which has a written form also has a spoken form, not the other way around. Writing is based on speech, not the other way around.

8. Langue & parole Langue: abstract ; stable, systematic ; conventions or rules; shared social code; collective body of knowledge Parole : concrete; particular; personal ; situational; individual; actual; varied

9. Competence & performance According to Chomsky, competence enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker's competence is stable while his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. so a speaker's performance does not always match or equal his supposed competence. (e.g. ungrammatical expressions, because of anxiety, embarrassment … )

10. Chomsky believes that linguists ought to study competence, rather than performance. Besides, his competence- performance distinction is not exactly the same as, though similar to, F. de Saussure's langue-parole distinction. Langue is a social product, and a set of conventions for a community, while competence is deemed as a property of the mind of each individual.

11. Traditional Grammar & Modern Linguistics Grammar: Teaching grammar / school grammar: Which is used in school to fulfill language requirements. Scholarly grammar Theory of grammar / theory of language