Paradigmatics and Syntagmatics

The Classifications of Morphemes

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful ultimate unit which can’t be further analyzed into immediate constituents. Morphologically words are monomorphic and polymorphic (table; un ] [gent ] [ le ] [ man ] [ ly). A morpheme is an abstract unit comparable with a deep structure, which is unobservable. It realizes itself in allomorphs. The morpheme of plurality, for example, manifests itself in the following allomorphs: table s, cris es, phenomen a, child ren, kniv es, termin i, formul ae, sheer (a morphemic zero). When analyzing words morphologically, we roughly identify allomorphs with morphemes.

Morphemes are classified according to different criteria. According to meaning, morphemes are divided into lexical, grammatical and lexico-grammatical ones (table; table ] [ s; teach ] [ er). According to position, morphemes are divided into opening, and closing, internal and external. According to function, morphemes are divided into root, derivational (affixal) and inflexional. According to self-dependence, morphemes are divided into free (lexical), which build up words, bound (inflexional and derivational), which never occur in isolation, and semi-bound (word-morphemes), which look like words (be, have, shall, will, should, would), but function as inflexions.

The morphemic model of an English word is prefix – root – suffix – inflexion.

The domain of morphology is the paradigmatics of a word. Morphology studies the forms of words and their paradigms. A paradigm is a set of forms of a word (a boy-boys-a boy’s-boys’).The term “paradigm” is used to designate sets of forms on different linguistic levels. A paradigm on the lexico-semantic level is a set of primarily and secondarily nominative lexico-semantic variants of a word, which constitute its semantic structure (a head is the top part of your body; your mind; the leader or person in charge; the top or front of something, etc.). On the level of word-building it is a set of derivatives (psyche-psychedelic-psychiatric-psychiatrist-psychiatry-psychic--psychoanalysis-psychoanalyst-psychoanalyze-psychological-psychologist-psychology-psychosis, etc.). On the syntactic level it is a set of transformations of kernel

sentences (I havea car -I had a car, I shall have a car-Do you have a car- I don’t have a car-my having a car-for me to have a car, etc.).

The domain of syntax is the syntagmatics of a word. A syntagm is a linear sequence of elements (He is a fine boy).

In a paradigm words are in paradigmatic relations, they have paradigmatic meanings which are constant, invariable, subject to no change. In a syntagm the once paradigmatic meanings are complicated by syntagmatic meanings which are variable, subject to contextual change. In the syntagm Lovely spring flowers under British bleak skies! ( R. Aldington. Death of a Hero) the morpheme –s along with the paradigmatic meaning of plurality acquires contextual (syntagmatic) meanings of emotiveness, expressiveness, intensiveness, and evaluation.

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