emic/etic (adj.)

A pair of terms which characterize opposed approaches to the study of LINGUISTIC DATA. An ‘etic’ approach is one where the physical patterns of LANGUAGE are described with a minimum of reference to their function within the language SYSTEM. An ‘emic’ approach, by contrast, takes full account of FUNCTIONAL relationships, setting up a CLOSED system of abstract CONTRASTIVE UNITS as the basis of a DESCRIPTION. Emic is in fact derived from such terms as PHONEME and MORPHEME, where -eme refers to the minimal distinctive units involved. An emic approach to INTONATION, for example, would describe only those features of the PITCH pattern which are used by a language to signal MEANINGS; an etic approach, on the other hand, would describe the UTTERANCE’S pitch movements much more minutely, regardless of whether the features described were being used by the language to signal MEANINGS or not. The distinction is a central feature of the American linguist Kenneth Pike’s (1912–2000) theory of language, known as TAGMEMICS.