--see also
<[LINK]> and its daughters
<[LINK]> historicity links and related matter
<[LINK]>
Pike on the problems of interpreting synchronically-described
clusters:
In the process of change from one phonemic system
to a differnt phonemic system of the same language,
there may be a time during which parts of the two
systems exist simultaneously and in conflict within the
speech of of singlew individuals. . . . It is
impossible to give a purely synchronic description of a
complex mixed system, at one point in time, which shows the
pertinent facts of that system; directionm of
change is a pertinent characteristic of the system and
must also be known if one wishes to have a complete
descriptipon of the language as it is structurallly
constituted
--from Fries and Pike (1949),
"Coexistent Phonemic Systems" quoted from 161 of Weinrich, Labov,
and Herzog in Lehmann, _Directions..._ (full cite on 190)
This quote can be generalized through paraphrase by using
"culture" for "language" and Pike's back formation of "emic" from
"phonemic":
In the process of change from one emic system to a
different emic system of the same culture, there may be
a time during which parts of the two systems exist
simultaneously and in conflict within single
individuals. . . . It is impossible to give a purely
synchronic description of a complex mixed system, at
one point in time, which shows the pertinent facts of
that system; directionm of change is a pertinent
characteristic of the system and must also be known if
one wishes to have a complete description of the
culture as it is structurallly constituted