Ministry of Higher Education and

Scientific Research
University of Karbala
College of Education
English of Department

Structural Linguistics

Prepared by:
Fatima H. Al-Maliki

Supervised by:
Asst. Prof. Dr. Hussain Al-Nasrawi
2021
Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations.
Syntagmatic relation and paradigmatic relation are terms introduced by Saussure to
distinguish two kinds of signifiers: one concerns positioning (syntagmatic) and the other
concerns substitution (paradigmatic).
words in a language can be described in terms of two types of relationships: A paradigmatic relationship
refers to the relationship between words that are the same parts of speech and which can be substituted for
each other in the same position within a given sentence. A syntagmatic relationship refers to the
relationship a word has with other words that surround it. In the table below, paradigmatic relationships are
shown vertically and syntagmatic relationship horizontally :

purchased Costly Bicycle

got Pricey old Motorcycle
John bought a(n) Expensive new Car
acquired

According to Lobner, All linguistic units can be combined into more complex units which are called
syntagms. A syllable is a syntagm of phonemes, a word taken as a sound unit is a syntagm of syllables; as a
semantic unit a word may be a syntagm of morphemes and (e.g., un-natur-al ). A syntactic phrase like the
NP a lucky decision is a syntagm of words, a sentence is a syntagm of phrases. For each kind of syntagm
there are specific formation rules and within each syntagm the constituents are related to each other in
specific ways. The general term for the relations within a syntagm is syntagmatic relations.

The syntagmatic relations that a given unit bears to other constituents are determined by its combinatorial
properties. For example, an English NP may take the form article+noun but not noun+ article, for each
position we can determine which units can occur in this position. The set of all alternatives is called a
paradigm. The units within a paradigm exhibit relations of difference and similarity, these relations are
called paradigmatic relations. (Lobner, 2002,P.129P)

The following Table displays the basic structuralist concepts and their definitions.

Structuralist concept Definition

Syntagm complex unit

syntagmatic relations relations between the constituents of a syntagm

Paradigm set of all elements that can fill a certain position in a syntagm

paradigmatic relations relations between the elements of a paradigm

(ibid:130)
Note: according to Francis P. Dineen in his book (An Introduction to General Linguistics), the word
(syntagmatic) is derived from the word (syntagm) which means (unit), therefore; the word syntagmatic is
concerned with the relationship among these units within a structure.

The word (paradigmatic) is derived from the word (paradigm) which means (set) and therefore the word
(paradigmatic) refers to the relationship among units within a system.

Syntagmatic

P She + can + go
a
r I + will + com
a
d I + may + sit
i
g You + might + see
m
a I + gave + Julia + the + key
t
i
c
Linguistics and Anthropology

What is the link between linguistics and anthropology?

There is a branch in anthropology called Linguistic Anthropology which studies linguistics from
anthropological perspective. It studies Origin of language, how language evolves with time, its variation
across different geographical areas, its transmission across generations, how it is effected by culture, status
etc

E.g. Certain section of people use the term “bro” to address their close friend whereas some avoid using it
altogether. A linguistic anthropologist will try to find out who are the people frequently using this term i.e.
their background, status, cultural impact and other factors and why certain people don't use this term so
often.

What's the difference between linguistics and anthropological linguistics?

Well anthropological linguistics (or Linguistic anthropology) is a branch of linguistics which studies a
language not only from its purely linguistic dimension (phonology, morphology, syntax, etc…) but also
studies the language as a cultural feature, how it is used in the social/anthropological context of the
culture/community where it is spoken.

It focuses on spoken and unwritten Languages outside Europe and Europeanize communities.

Robins 1964 in his book commenting on the subject of the relationship of linguistics to anthropology
he sees :

Anthropological investigation

- Involves observation as well as enquiry, and it is clearly possible to arrive at some description of a
people's culture without learning anything of their language,
- Linguists who relegate semantics as lying outside their main preoccupation can investigate the
formal structuring of a language at the phonological and grammatical levels without regard to wider
aspects of the culture of the speakers.
- The intimate connection between the subject-matters of the linguist and of the anthropologist implies
that progress in the theory and methods of either is likely to serve correspondingly to advance
understanding in the other.

So, according that ; "The specific study of the interdisciplinary links, both theoretical and practical, between
anthropology and linguistics has been called etbnoJingoistics". (ibid:352)

Anthropological linguistics: is a branch of linguistics which studies language variation and use in relation
to the cultural patterns and beliefs of man. For example, it studies the way in which linguistic features may
identify a number of a member of a community with a social, religious, occupational or kinship group.

(adopted from Hikmat, Y. 1998:7)

Linguistics and Philosophy

What is the difference between linguistics and philosophy?

Linguistic: is specifically the study of human language, in much the same way biology is the study of living
organisms.

Philosophy: is the study of knowledge in general, in particular how it relates to people and how we interact
with each other and the world around us.

A little developed branch of linguistics which studies, on the one hand, the role of language in relation to the
understanding and elucidation of philosophical concepts, and, on the other hand, the philosophical status of
linguistic theories, methods and observations. When these topics are studied by philosophers, rather than
linguists, the terms linguistic philosophy and the philosophy of language are used. (Crystal,2008, P.360)

Philosophical linguistics: studies the role of language in relation to the understanding and explanation of
philosophical concepts, as well as dealing with the philosophical status of linguistic theories, methods and
Observations (ibid Hikmat,Y.1998:7)

Similarly, Robins (1964) comments on this study

Linguistic studies partly grew out of philosophic enquiries, and the association of the two subjects, after
their distinctiveness was recognized, is manifest. And on any view of philosophy and of its subdivisions,
language remains the vehicle of logical discourse and inference. (ibid:358)
Linguistics and Psychology

What is the relationship between psychology and linguistics?

Psychology is the study of the human mind and behavior. Linguistics is the study of
language, which happens to be a particular behavior and product of the human mind.
Therefore, linguistics could be argued to branch off from psychology.
Psycholinguists talk with psychologists a lot, and often conduct psychology-style experiments to learn more
about how language works in the mind. Many linguists study different aspects of language to see how these
work in the mind. While most linguists don’t directly deal with psychology on a day-to-day basis and often
use different methodologies, it’s pretty clear that our fields are deeply connected

psychology the study of mental states and events in human beings (Robins,1964,P.361)

This interdisciplinary study has been entitled psycholinguistics, and within its range lie such topics as the
use of language in a concept formation, learning, abstraction, and kindred processes (ibid)

Psycholinguistics: is concerned with the study of human behavior and language. Its main interest is the
relation between language and thinking (mind). For example, the first language acquisition.
(Hikmat,Y.1998,P.6)

And from point of view Richards, J.C 2010 to the Psycholinguistics he sees:

the study of

A. the mental processes that a person uses in producing and understanding language,
B. how humans learn language. Psycholinguistics includes the study of speech perception, the role of
memory, concepts and other processes in language use, and how social and psychological factors
affect the use of language. (ibid:473)
Linguistics and Communication Engineering
The communications engineer is concerned with more than one type of process involving language material,
the transmission of speech as such by wire and radio waves, and the conversion of linguistic signals, written
messages, into some other medium, via Morse code and the like, or directly into sequences of electric
impulses, their transmission, and reconversion into written messages.

Communicational engineering: 'A branch of linguistics which deals with the application of the information
theory to communication, i.e., the passing of messages from a source to receiver via a channel".

(Hikmet, 1998:10)
Linguistics and Literature
What is the relationship between linguistics and literature?

Linguistics Literature
Refers to the systematic study of language Is defined as the written works within a language.

It tried to understand how human language works. It Studies well literature. Its focus is on how texts are
researches its evolution, variation, and structure made and how writers express things.
Studies language Studies literary expression

Linguistics studies language as an object of scientific Literature uses language as a medium for producing
inquiry works of art
.

A linguist and a literary scholar could both study a play Hamlet for example but the linguist would focus on
its form, content, and structures, while a literary scholar would focus on its metrical and alliterative
attributes, aesthetic value and its social function

Linguists and literary scholars would both eagerly study the many translations of this play into different
languages, but here, too, linguists would be more interested in forms and structures, literary scholars in
more esthetic issues.

The science that combines literature and linguistics is called Stylistics

Stylistics sometimes includes investigations of spoken language, it usually refers to the study of written
language, including literary texts. (adopted from Richards, J.C 2010,P.566)

And according to Yassmin Hikmet1998 In her study of literary and linguistic analysis

Stylistic analysis has been mainly concerned with analysis of literary style or the language variety
characteristic of a writer. More recently, emphasis has been shifted to the linguistic description of the
utterance itself in terms of its components and characteristic deviations from the standard language and other
studies. (ibid:7-8)
 A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Crystals. Dived. (2008). Oxford: Blackwell.
 An Introduction to General Linguistics. Dinneen. F. P. (1978). Georgetown UP
 An Introductory Course In General Linguistics, Hikmet. Yassmin. (1998) Baghdad, UB
 General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey. Robins, R.H.(1964). Indiana: UP
 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Richards, J.C et. al.(2010).
London: Longman.
 Understanding Semantics. Sebastian Lobner. (2002). London: Cambridge University Press.