Lecture 2

Dimensions and levels of linguistic analysis: syntagmatic

and paradigmatic relations between lingual units.
Hierarchical structuring of language system.

Language is a system of signs in which lingual units enter into relations of two different
kinds: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. When elements combine with others along a horizontal
dimension, they enter into syntagmatic relations. Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear
relations between lingual units of the same level in a segmental sequence (string). For instance, in
the sentence − “A beautifully dressed girl is talking to my brother in the yard.”− words are
connected syntagmatically within the word-groups:
beautifully dressed; my brother;
a beautifully dressed girl; is talking to my brother;
a girl is talking; is talking in the yard.
The combination of two words or word-groups in a segmental sequence, one of which is
modified by the other, forms a unit which is called a syntactic “syntagma.” There are four main
types of notional syntagmas:
1. predicative syntagma, which represents a combination of a subject and a predicate.
For instance: A girl is talking .
2. objective syntagma, which represents a combination of a verb and its object.
For instance: is talking to my brother.
3. attributive syntagma, which represents a combination of a noun and its attribute.
For instance: a beautifully dressed girl; my brother.
4. adverbial syntagma, which represents a combination of a modified notional word,
such as a verb, adjective or adverb, with its adverbial modifier.
For instance: is talking in the yard (a verb with its adverbial modifier of place);
beautifully dressed (an adverb with its adverbial modifier of degree).
Different from the rest of syntagmas, in a predicative syntagma the connection between its
members is of reciprocal (mutual) nature: that is, the subject dominates the predicate determining

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the person and number of predication (e.g.: Nick speaks English well) , while the predicate
dominates the subject, ascribing to it some action, process, state or quality .
The other type of relations, which is opposed to syntagmatic, is called paradigmatic.
Elements enter into paradigmatic relations when they have the same potential to appear in the
same context and functionally substitute each other. We have syntagmatic elements in a sequence
along the horizontal dimension, while along the vertical dimension we have paradigmatic
elements in substitution (Haspelmath 2002: 165). For example:
Nick was offensive.
The word on the wall was offensive.
The politician’s speech was offensive.
His manner was offensive.
All the expressions in bold are combined with the predicate - ‘was offensive’, performing the
function of a subject in a sentence structure. So, they can all be classed paradigmatically as noun
phrases.
Paradigmatic relations between lingual elements are especially evident in classical paradigms
of categorical forms of parts of speech. The minimal paradigm consists of two oppositional forms
and because of this it is called a binary paradigm (e.g. singular and plural of nouns: boy – boys; box
– boxes, etc. or the category of case: common case and possessive case: boy – boy’s; children –
children’s, etc). The grammatical category of the degrees of comparison of adjectives is represented
by a ternary paradigm (სამწევრა პარადიგმა) that of the positive, comparative and superlative
degrees, such as: large – larger – largest; tall – taller – tallest; beautiful - more beautiful – most
beautiful, and quaternary paradigms (ოთხწევრა პარადიგმა) are observed with verbal categories:
play – plays – played – will play;
play – is playing – was/were playing - will be playing;

Hierarchical structuring of language system

In modern linguistics language is regarded as a system of signs which is organized by the

principle of hierarchy of levels of lingual units. The peculiarity of this hierarchy lies in the fact
that units of any higher level are formed of units of the immediately lower ones. Thus morphemes
are formed of phonemes, words of morphemes, sentences of phrases and words and so on.
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 But this hierarchical relation does not imply that it might be reduced to the mechanical
composition of larger units from the smaller ones. Units of each level are characterized by their
own, specific functional features according to which they differ from each other.
The lowest level of lingual units is a phonemic level which is formed by phonemes(sounds).
Phonemes are not signs yet as they have no meaning. They serve as material elements to build the
higher level segments – morphemes and words. Their function is purely differential, as they
differentiate morphemes and words as material bodies from each other. For instance: bad [bæd]
and bed [bed]; pork and fork; sheep and ship; cat and cap, etc. Phonemes are represented by
graphemes (i.e., letters) in writing.
Units of the higher levels are meaningful, therefore they represent signs.
The level located above the phonemic is a morphemic level. Morphemic or morphological
level is represented by morphemes. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful component of the
word. It is built up by a sequence of phonemes or even by one phoneme if it has a meaning. For
instance, the word boy-s, consists of two morphemes one of which ( boy) is the root morpheme
built up by a sequence of three phonemes, whereas the other morpheme is an affixal inflexion
represented by a single meaningful phoneme – s, which indicates grammatical meaning of the
plural number.
The third level in the lingual hierarchy is the lexemic level represented by words as lexical
items or lexemes. The word is built up by a sequence of morphemes or one morpheme and it is the
smallest designating (naming) unit of language: it designates things (dog, woman, table, book,
river, etc.), qualities (quiet, beautiful, round, interesting, deep, etc.), actions, states or processes,
etc. (bark, laugh, stand, read, crawl, and so on.).
The fourth level in the hierarchy of language system is the syntactic level the main unit of
which is a sentence. The sentence is an elementary full sign as it not only designates a certain tar-
get situation or event but performs communicative function as well, transmitting a comparatively
completed piece of information. For instance, the sentence – “The American delegation arrived in
Tbilisi for a three-day visit.” – designates a particular target event of objective reality, on the one
hand, and transmits the corresponding information about it, on the other.
But the sentence is not the highest unit of language in the hierarchy of levels. The highest
level of lingual units is the textual level represented by a text. Traditionally, from the structuralist
viewpoint, text can be defined as a sequence of thematically interrelated sentences which forms a
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meaningful whole. According to the structural definition, the lower border of the text is restricted
as it implies a sequence of at least two sentences while the upper border is open because of the
varying diapazon of the theme.
On this basis, linguists differentiate structural types of texts into microtexts and macrotexts.
In microtexts sentences centre around one concrete theme while in macrotexts microtexts are
united by a hypertheme which is derived from the constituent microthemes.
For instance, in the text given below all the sentences are thematically interrelated under the
headline “Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Relationship”.

Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Relationship

Kate and Will’s romance blossomed at University, where they regularly saw each other
in lectures and tutorials and around the University Halls.

 The couple connected through their love of sport and gap year experiences.

By the time they entered their second year at University, Kate and Will had moved in
together, as flat-mates, but insisted they were only friends.  However the pair soon
became closer and started developing feelings for each other.

Kate and Will tried to keep their relationship a secret from the press, but when they
were spotted kissing on the slopes of the Alp whilst on a skiing holiday in Switzerland,
in January 2006, they could no longer hide.

On this example, we can clearly see that text is actually a communicative unit of the highest
rank. This text, for instance, contains considerable and interesting information about Kate
Middletone and Prince William’s relationship. The informative potential of any text is determined
by the fact that, unlike a sentence, it can designate a whole set of extralinguistic events or
situations which constitute the target (i.e. referential) space of the given text.
But there exists another interpretation of the notion of text. From the functionalist
viewpoint, a lingual unit of any length, be it a sequence of thematically interrelated well-formed
sentences, one simple sentence or even a word, can be defined as a text if it performs a
communicative function. This definition explains the existence of such small-scale texts as: “Fire!”;
“Help!” and many others, the use of which is restricted (predetermined) by the setting of the
corresponding speech act.

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 Thus, we have discussed the main methodological problems of linguistic analysis that are of
paramount importance for grammar too. That is dimensions and levels of linguistic analysis that
imply syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations between lingual units, on the one hand, and
hierarchical structuring of language system, on the other hand.

Study Questions:

1. Give the definition of the term “syntagma”.

Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear relations between lingual units of the same level in a
segmental sequence (string).
The combination of two words or word-groups in a segmental sequence, one of which is modified by
the other, forms a unit which is called a syntactic “syntagma.”
2. Name the main types of syntagma, define each of them and give examples.
1.predicative syntagma, which represents a combination of a subject and a predicate.
For instance: A girl is talking .
2.objective syntagma, which represents a combination of a verb and its object.
For instance: is talking to my brother.
3.attributive syntagma, which represents a combination of a noun and its attribute. For
instance: a beautifully dressed girl; my brother.
4.adverbial syntagma, which represents a combination of a modified notional word, such
as a verb, adjective or adverb, with its adverbial modifier.
For instance: is talking in the yard (a verb with its adverbial modifier of place);
beautifully dressed (an adverb with its adverbial modifier of degree).

3. How does a predicative syntagma differ from rest of syntagmas?

Different from the rest of syntagmas, in a predicative syntagma the connection between its
members is of reciprocal (mutual) nature: that is, the subject dominates the predicate
determining the person and number of predication (e.g.: Nick speaks English well), while the
predicate dominates the subject, ascribing to it some action, process, state or quality .

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4. Define the paradigmatic relations between lingual signs. How do syntagmatic and
paradigmatic relations differ from each other?
Elements enter into paradigmatic relations when they have the same potential to appear in
the same context and functionally substitute each other. We have syntagmatic elements in a
sequence along the horizontal dimension, while along the vertical dimension we have
paradigmatic elements in substitution
5. How is the language system organized? What does the hierarchy of levels imply? In modern
linguistics language is regarded as a system of signs which is organized by the principle of hierarchy of
levels of lingual units. The peculiarity of this hierarchy lies in the fact that units of any higher level
are formed of units of the immediately lower ones. Thus morphemes are formed of phonemes, words
of morphemes, sentences of phrases and words and so on.

6. Describe the phonemic level in the hierarchical system of language.

The lowest level of lingual units is a phonemic level which is formed by phonemes(sounds).
Phonemes are not signs yet as they have no meaning. They serve as material elements to build the
higher level segments – morphemes and words. Their function is purely differential, as they
differentiate morphemes and words as material bodies from each other. For instance: bad [bæd]
and bed [bed]; pork and fork; sheep and ship; cat and cap, etc. Phonemes are represented by
graphemes (i.e., letters) in writing.

7. Describe the morphemic level in the hierarchical system of language.

The level located above the phonemic is a morphemic level. Morphemic or morphological
level is represented by morphemes. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful component of
the word. It is built up by a sequence of phonemes or even by one phoneme if it has a
meaning. For instance, the word boy-s, consists of two morphemes one of which ( boy) is the
root morpheme built up by a sequence of three phonemes, whereas the other morpheme is
an affixal inflexion represented by a single meaningful phoneme – s, which indicates
grammatical meaning of the plural number.

8. Describe the lexemic level in the hierarchical system of language.

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 The third level in the lingual hierarchy is the lexemic level represented by words as lexical
items or lexemes. The word is built up by a sequence of morphemes or one morpheme and it
is the smallest designating (naming) unit of language: it designates things (dog, woman, table,
book, river, etc.), qualities (quiet, beautiful, round, interesting, deep, etc.), actions, states or
processes, etc. (bark, laugh, stand, read, crawl, and so on.).

9. Describe the syntactic level in the hierarchical system of language.

The fourth level in the hierarchy of language system is the syntactic level the main unit
of which is a sentence. The sentence is an elementary full sign as it not only designates a certain
tar-get situation or event but performs communicative function as well, transmitting a
comparatively completed piece of information. For instance, the sentence – “The American
delegation arrived in Tbilisi for a three-day visit.” – designates a particular target event of
objective reality, on the one hand, and transmits the corresponding information about it, on the
other.

10. Give the structural definition of the text and explain it.
The highest level of lingual units is the textual level represented by a text. Traditionally, from the
structuralist viewpoint, text can be defined as a sequence of thematically interrelated sentences which
forms a meaningful whole. According to the structural definition, the lower border of the text is
restricted as it implies a sequence of at least two sentences while the upper border is open because of
the varying diapazon of the theme.

11. Name and define structural types of text.

linguists differentiate structural types of texts into microtexts and macrotexts. In microtexts sentences
centre around one concrete theme while in macrotexts microtexts are united by a hypertheme which
is derived from the constituent microthemes.

12. Give the functional definition of the text.

From the functionalist viewpoint, a lingual unit of any length, be it a sequence of
thematically interrelated well-formed sentences, one simple sentence or even a word, can be
defined as a text if it performs a communicative function. This definition explains the
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existence of such small-scale texts as: “Fire!”; “Help!” and many others, the use of which is
restricted (predetermined) by the setting of the corresponding speech act.