Lecture Four

Paradigmatic/ Syntagmatic Dichotomy

When we speak, language is produced in time, so that some bits of our utterance precede
or follow other bits. When we write, this temporal aspect of language is replaced by a
spatial aspect: the words are set out on the page in a conventional way such that linear
order corresponds to the temporal order in speech. Thus English is written from left to
right, with elements further to the left corresponding to elements produced earlier than
elements further to the right. So in (1) cat precedes mat in linear order, corresponding to
temporal structure in speech: we would say cat before we would say mat.

(1) The cat sat on the mat

The elements in (1) are said to be related to each other syntagmatically. Together they
form a SYNTAGM or construction. We can say that the verb sit (or sat in this particular
sentence) determines what it will be related to syntagmatically in that it demands
something in the position of the cat in (1) and allows, but does not demand, an equivalent
phrase after it (as in They sat the dog on the mat).

However, language is also structured in terms of the words (or other elements) which are
not there but which could have been. Each of the words in (1) could have been replaced
by a number of other possible words. Some examples are given in (2).

(2) The cat sat on the mat

This girl sits across your bed
That student walked over her car
My frog ran by their lap

The words in each of the columns in (2) are related to each other paradigmatically. They
are related by being alternative possible choices at a position in the syntagm. While
elements which are related syntagmatically are all present, elements which are related
paradigmatically are mostly absent: they are relationships of potential.

Each of the columns in (2) can be called a PARADIGM, although that name is more
usually reserved for a particular type of paradigmatic relationships, those holding
between different forms of the same word (or, more technically, lexeme). Thus (3)
illustrates a Latin noun paradigm.

(3) ‘lord’ singular plural

nominative dominus dominı¯
vocative domine dominı¯
accusative dominum domino¯s
genitive dominı¯ domino¯rum
dative domino¯ dominı¯s
ablative domino¯ dominı

In (3) we see a number of suffixes, each of which has a syntagmatic relationship with the
stem domin-. The endings themselves are in a paradigmatic relationship.

Note that elements in paradigmatic relationships share common features. All the words in
the first column in (2) are determiners, all those in the second column are nouns and so
on. Word classes can be thought of as being derived from sets of paradigmatic
relationships. Very specific syntagms can also show semantically related words in
relevant paradigms. Thus, consider (4), where the verb – except in figurative uses –
demands the word cat or a closely related word.

(4) The cat miaowed.

kitten
tom
moggy