In the more recent functionalist researches one can notice a strong tendency toward the historical investigation of linguistic facts, together with synchronic descriptions. The interaction and interdependence synchrony/ diachrony is central to the understanding of the process of grammaticalization since, besides the synchronic analysis of grammatical forms as a discourse-pragmatic phenomenon, primarily syntactic, one should also investigate the origin of these forms in discourse and the paths of change along which they proceed. Studies on the trajectory and current configuration of items such as `onde' and `ir', of processes such as syntactic integration by embedding or of processes such as repetition and negation, give evidence of this interaction, which results in the panchronic approach.
Panchrony; Synchrony; Diachrony; Functionalism; Linguistic change
