ABSTRACT
A term introduced by F.de Saussure for the type of historical linguistics conducted nearly exclusively by the Neogrammarians in the nineteenth century, whose atomistic procedure (e.g. study of the development of single sounds or forms without regard to the systemic character of language) was vigorously attacked by de Saussure. In the dichotomy synchrony vs diachrony, diachrony is accorded a subordinate function; at the most it is regarded as complementary to synchronic study. The generally ahistorical, purely descriptive linguistics carried out by the structuralist stream of research largely adopted this view. It is only since the 1960s that problems of language change have moved into the general focus of research again.
