Definition of syntagmatics and paradigmatics

Lecture 5. Word-meaning in syntagmatics and paradigmatics

It is recognized that word-meaning can be perceived through intralinguistic relations that exist between words. Intralinguistic relations of words are of two main types: syntagmatic and paradigmatic.

Syntagmatic relations define the meaning which the word possesses when it is used in combination with other words in the flow of speech. For example, compare the meaning of the verb to get in He got a letter, He got tired, He got to London.

Paradigmatic relations are those that exist between individual lexical items which make up one of the subgroups of vocabulary items, e.g. sets of synonyms, lexico-semantic groups.

Paradigmatic relations define the word-meaning through its interrelation with other members of the subgroup in question. For example, the meaning of the verb to get can be fullz understood only in comparison with other items of the synonymic set: get, obtain, receive, etc.

The distinction between syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations may be indicated by horizontal and vertical presentation as is shown below.

Syntagmatic relations

He got a letter

I received a note

She obtained an epistle

A full understanding of the semantic structure of any lexical item can be gained only from the study of the intralinguistic relations of words in the flow of speech.

In analyzing the semantic structure of the polysemantic word table we observed thar some meanings are representative of the word in isolation, that is they invariably occur to us when we hear the word or see it written on paper. Other meanings come to the fore only when the word is used in certain contexts. This is true of all polysemantic words.The adjective yellow, for example, when used in isolation is understood to denote a certain colour, whereas other meanings of this word, e.g. “envious”, “suspicious”, “sensational”, “corrupt”, are perceived only in certain contexts, e.g. “a yellow look”, “the yellow press”.

We understand by the term context the minimal stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word.

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