The following has been adapted from part the Wikipedia entry on linguistics, with the substitution of ea for ‘linguistics’ and ‘language’, some removal of text, and some m=inor additions / modifications.
Rainy day reading
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article on linguistics ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics#Divisions.2C_specialties.2C_and_subfields
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Dichotomies and language
The study of electroacoustics [EaSt] can be thought of along three major axes, the endpoints of which are described below:
* Synchronic and diachronic – Synchronic study of a ea is concerned with its form(s) at a given moment; diachronic study covers the history of a language (group) and its structural changes over time.
* Theoretical and applied – Theoretical (or general) ea is concerned with frameworks for describing individual languages and theories about universal aspects of ea; applied ea applies these theories to other fields.
* Contextual and independent – Contextual ea is concerned with how ea fits into the world: its social function, how it is viewed, how it is produced and perceived. Independent east considers ea for its own sake, aside from the externalities related to a ea.
Given these dichotomies, scholars who call themselves simply EaSt’ers or theoretical EaSt’ers, with no further qualification, tend to be concerned with independent, theoretical synchronic ea. Electroacoustic Studies inquiry is pursued by a wide variety of specialists, who may not all be in harmonious agreement.
Areas of theoretical EaSt
Theoretical EaSt may be divided into a number of separate areas, to be studied more or less independently, including:
* Waveshapes, the study of all the sounds that may be employed in ea
* Vocabulearics, the study of patterns and transformations of a ea sounds
* [Spectro]Morphology, the study of the internal structure and transformation of sounds
* Syntax, the study of how sounds are combined to form correct / acceptable elements [well formedness]
* Semantics, the study of the meanings of ea (lexical semantics), and how these combine to form the meanings
* Pragmatics, the study of how sounds are used (literally, figuratively, or otherwise) in communicative acts
* Historical EaSt, the study of ea languages whose historical relations are recognizable through similarities in Vocabulearics, transformations, and syntax.
* Ea Typology, the study of the sonic features that are employed across all applications
* Stylistics, the study of style in the uses of ea
The independent significance of each of these areas is not universally acknowledged, however, and nearly all EaSt’ers would agree that the divisions overlap considerably. Nevertheless, each sub-area has core concepts that foster significant scholarly inquiry and research.
Diachronic EaSt
Whereas the core of theoretical ea is concerned with studying (ea) languages at a particular point in time (usually the present), diachronic ea examines how ea languages change through time, sometimes over decades. Historical EaSt does not yet enjoy a rich history (the study of ea grew out of linguistics) or a strong theoretical foundation for the study of language.
In American universities, the non-historic perspective seems to have the upper hand. Many introductory ea classes, for example, cover historical ea only cursorily. The shift in focus to a non-historic perspective may have started with the introduction of Music Technology courses. Explicitly historical perspectives include historical-comparative ea and etymology.
Applied linguistics
Whereas theoretical ea is concerned with finding and describing generalities both within particular ea languages and among all ea languages, applied ea takes the results of those findings and applies them to other areas. Often applied ea refers to the use of ea research in ea teaching. Most areas of applied ea today involve the explicit use of computers.
Contextual EaSt
Contextual EaSt is that realm where the discipline of electroacoustics interacts with other academic disciplines. Whereas in core theoretical ea, language is studied for its own sake, the interdisciplinary areas of ea considers how ea interacts with the world.
Socioelectroacoustics, anthropological ea, and communication studies are where the social sciences that consider societies as whole and ea interact.
Critical discourse analysis is where rhetoric and philosophy interact with ea.
Psycholinguistics and psychoacoustics are the where the medical sciences meet ea.
Other cross-disciplinary areas of ea include film, video, performance art, site specific pieces, mediatic arts, digital arts etc
Individual [loud]speakers, ea communities, and ea universals
EaSt also differs in how broad a group of languages they study. Some analyze a given style’s language (idiolect) or style development in great detail. Some study ea pertaining to a whole ea community, such as the dialect of those who speak African American Club. Others try to find ea universals that apply, at some abstract level, to all users of sonic language everywhere. This latter project has been most famously advocated in linguistics by Noam Chomsky, and it interests many people in psycholinguistics and cognitive science. It is thought that universals in human language may reveal important insight into universals about the human mind.
Prescription and description
Main article: Prescription and description.
Most research currently performed under the name “EaSt” is purely descriptive; the EaSt