Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Stylistics

A paradigm is a set of grammar forms of this or that part of speech, each of such form being naturally selected in the speech process. The notion of a syntagma is employed in both phonetics and syntax and denotes a combination of words in speech, a linear sequence of lexical units.

The term paradigmatics, mostly used by Russian linguists, denotes the totality of units the language has at its disposal. The term syntagmatics also implies to a totality but this time the sequences or chains of units. Both paradigmatics and syntagmatics are interconnected in reality supporting each other and representing necessary condition for each other’s existence. What would a paradigm of units be without a knowledge of how they are combined in syntagmata? It would be useless and meaningless. The meaning of a unit is known due to the knowledge of its distribution. The same way what would a syntagma be without its place in the paradigm? For stylistics strict delimitation of these both is of principal importance. Thus when we use the word guy instead of man or the form ain’t instead of am/is/are not the combination real good instead of really good, the sentence John here? instead of Is John here? it means one unit used instead of another which could be but isn’t employed on purpose. It’s what shows the paradigmatic branch of stylistics: the paradigmatic choice between the stylistically marked and stylistically neutral units. Another example is the utterance I ask you, I pray, I beseech. Here it is not the words or their meanings that are of stylistic interest but the number of their manifestations (3) and the relations between their meanings: pray is stronger than ask and beseech is the strongest synonym. In combinations like life and death, now or never there is also a definite play of meanings, this time based upon contrast. There are also examples of contrastive meanings within one phrase like love and hate, sweet torture, etc. Such correlations between the meanings of words in single combinations make the object of studies of syntagmatic stylistics. Thus there is stylistics of units named paradigmatic stylistics and stylistics of sequences names syntagmatic stylistics. The former studies separate words, groups, while the latter studies their combinations. That is stylistic units. Paradigmatic stylistics is concentrated upon the choice between the stylistically marked and stylistically neutral units. Syntagmatic stylistics is focused upon the correlations between the meanings of words which stand together.

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