dynamic (adj.)

A term used in GRAMMATICAL classification, referring to one of the two main ASPECTUAL categories of VERB use; the other is STATIVE or STATIC. The distinguishing criteria are mainly SYNTACTIC; for example, dynamic verbs occur in the PROGRESSIVE form (e.g. I’m running, He’s playing) and in the IMPERATIVE (e.g. Run!). The SEMANTICS of this class covers a wide range, including activity, process (e.g. change, grow), bodily sensation (e.g. feel, hurt), etc.

A term used by some SOCIOLINGUISTS to characterize a view of LANGUAGE (dynamic linguistics) in which a temporal dimension is introduced into the study of language variation: SYNCHRONIC states are seen in terms of the processes (‘waves’) of change which produce and affect them, as defined in terms of such notions as relative rate and direction of change. A similar introduction of the temporal dimension into an otherwise ‘static’ view of a subject is found in parametric PHONETICS (dynamic phonetics), and in several contemporary instrumental techniques for the study of ARTICULATION, as in myodynamic (muscular movement) and aerodynamic (airflow) investigations. Phonological approaches which incorporate parametric phonetic principles are characterized as dynamic phonology.