“Synthetic” vs. “Analytic” Languages
There are many different languages in the world, and every language is governed by its own set of systematic rules called its “grammar.”
By studying different grammars, linguists have devised many ways of classifying languages according to their grammatical characteristics.
One of the most important examples of this is the so-called “synthetic language” vs. “analytic language” classification.
A “synthetic” language is any language that uses the strategy of changing its word forms (e.g. by adding word endings) to convey grammatical information, such as the tense, aspect, and voice of a verb, or the role of a noun in a sentence.
German is an example of a “synthetic” language. For example, in German, the noun playing the role of the subject and the noun playing the role of the direct object in a sentence have different word forms that show these grammatical roles. These roles can be interpreted independently from the word order because of their differentiated forms--that is, we would always be able to tell which noun is the direct object, wherever it is in a sentence, because it has a distinct form.
On the other hand, an “analytic” language is any language that conveys grammatical information not by changing its word forms, but rather mainly by other means such as additional particles and markers or a stricter word order.
Chinese is an example of an “analytic” language--as we all know, Chinese words cannot change forms, so grammatical information must be conveyed through other means.
The classification of “synthetic” vs. “analytic” is a spectrum that goes from “most synthetic” to “most analytic.” This means that, even though every language can be classified either on the “synthetic” side or the “analytic” side, where it is along the spectrum depends on “how synthetic” or “how analytic” it is.
“Most synthetic” means “words change forms in the most complex and numerous ways to convey grammatical information.” Finnish is an example of a highly synthetic language--its nouns, for example, can have 15 distinct forms depending on their roles in a sentence.
Conversely, “most analytic” means “words never change forms.” Chinese is as “analytic” as a language can get on the spectrum as none of its words can ever change forms.
Most languages lie between a highly synthetic language like Finnish and a highly analytic language like Chinese on this spectrum.
English, for example, is technically on the “synthetic” side of the spectrum, as it uses word form changes to convey grammatical information such as the tense of verbs and the number of nouns. However, English is only “slightly synthetic” as the modern form of the language has lost a lot of the word form changes older forms used to have. Compared to a more synthetic language like German, English only has very few word form changes and actually relies a lot on word order to convey grammatical information.
As with other Linguistics concepts, a basic understanding of the classification of “synthetic” vs. “analytic” languages allows us to tackle the grammar of our target foreign language in a more systematic and targeted manner.
For example, if Chinese speakers learning English understood that Chinese is a “highly analytic” language, and English is a “slightly synthetic” language, they could approach the few and simple word form changes in English with more clarity and precision.
Unlike Chinese, which does not change any of its word forms, English does have “more” word form changes, so it is true that Chinese speakers would need to understand that English uses these as a means of conveying certain grammatical information like tense.
However, if we put this into perspective and understand that English is only “slightly synthetic,” we should not see its word form changes as intimidating--as there are just not that many.
As long as we understand what the purpose of word form changes is, we should be able to tackle the few that exist in English with confidence.
「綜合語 」vs. 「分析語」
世上有很多不同的語言，而每種語言都受規範於自身的一套系統性規則，即它的「grammar」（文法）。
語言學家根據世上不同語言的文法特徵，設計了不同的分類語言的方法，以便研究和分析。
其中一個重要的語言分類方式，就是所謂「synthetic language」（綜合語）及「analytic language」（分析語）的分類。
「synthetic language」是一種會透過改變字形（例如加字尾）的方式，以表達如動詞的時態（tense）、體貌（aspect）、語態（voice），及名詞在句中角色等文法信息的語言。
德文便是一種「synthetic language」。例如，德文句子中扮演主語的名詞與扮演直接賓語的名詞，都會以不同的字形出現，顯示其文法角色。就算忽視詞序，即無論那些名詞是放在句子中的任何一個位置，我們也可根據所變化的字形，分辨出哪個是主語，哪個是直接賓語等。
相反，「analytic language」就是不會從改變字形，而是透過其他例如助語詞、標記、固定詞序等方式來傳遞文法信息的語言。
我們都知道中文並不會轉變字形，而是會用其他方法來顯示各種文法信息，因此中文就是一種「analytic language」。
雖然每種語言都可簡單被歸類為「synthetic （綜合性）」或「analytic （分析性）」，但從「最具綜合性」至「最具分析性」之間，語言還是可以有不同程度的「綜合性」或「分析性」。
「最具綜合性」的意思，是「單字會以最複雜和數量最多的方式來改變字形以傳遞文法信息」。芬蘭語正是代表之一，例如，它的名詞有著十五種不同的字形來表現自身在句子中的角色。
而「最具分析性」，意思就是「單字永不會改變字形」。中文絕對屬於「最具分析性」的語言，因為它的任何一個單字的字形均不能被改變。
其實大多數語言都介乎於像芬蘭語的「高度綜合性」與像中文的「高度分析性」之間。以英文為例，技術上它屬於「綜合性」的範疇，因為英文會利用字形變化來顯示文法信息，例如動詞的時態和名詞的數量等。不過，隨著許多舊有的字形變化消失，現今的英文只是具有「輕微綜合性」。對比像德文般有「較高綜合性」的語言，英文可變化的字形十分少，實際上也非常依賴詞序來表達文法信息。
與其他語言學概念一樣，對「synthetic language」和「analytic language」的分類有基本認識，我們便能以更有系統和針對性的方式來學習外語的文法。
例如母語為中文的人士想學習英文，理解中文是具「高度分析性」的語言，而英文是具「輕微綜合性」的語言，便可以更清晰及準確地處理英文中那些少數而簡單的字形變化。
有別於中文不作任何字形改變，英文的確存在「較多」字形變化。因此操中文人士應該要理解，英文實際上是以此作為表達某些語法信息（如動詞時態）的手段。
然而，如果我們的觀念正確，並明白到英文只不過是「有輕微綜合性」，要變化的字形實在不多，就無需因為要學習那些字形而感到害怕。
只要明白改變字形的目的為何，便可以更自信地應付英文文法中那些少量但必須的字形變化。