D. V. Demidov

4. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations between 
language units. 
Crucial for the systemic description of language are the 
two fundamental types of relations between lingual units: 
syntagmatic and paradigmatic.
Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear relations where 
lingual units form various lingual strings, sequences, or 
constructions; in other words, lingual units co-occur in the same 

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actual sequences. E.g.: He started laughing. In this sentence we 
can point out syntagmatic, or linear relations between the sounds 
[h+i:] = [hi:]; [s+t+a:+t+i+d] = [sta:tid]; etc.; the morphemes are 
also connected syntagmatically within words: start+ed = started; 
laugh+ing = laughing; the combinations of words form syntagmas 
within phrases and sentences: He + started; started + laughing. 
Besides, the sentence can be connected with other sentences by 
syntagmatic relations in the process of communication, in speech, 
e.g.: He started laughing. Everybody thought it was rather odd.
The term ―syntagmatic relations‖ is derived from the word 
―syntagma‖, i.e. a linear combination of units of the same level.
There are four main types of notional syntagmas: 
predicative (the combination of a subject and a predicate), 
objective (the combination of a verb and its object), attributive 
(the combination of a noun and its attribute), adverbial (the 
combination of a modified notional word, such as a verb, 
adjective, or adverb, with its adverbial modifier).
Since these relations can be observed in actual utterances, 
they are also defined by the Latin term ―in praesentia‖ (―in the 
presence‖, present in the same sequence). 
In real speech in one and the same utterance different types 
of syntagmatic relations are realized, depending on the speaker‘s 
intention and communicative purpose.
The other type of relations, opposed to syntagmatic, are 
called paradigmatic. The term is derived from the word 
―paradigm‖ and denotes the relations between elements in 
paradigms in the system of language. Ferdinand de Saussure 
called these relations ‗associative relations‘, implying the way 
different linguistic units are arranged and associated with each 
other in human minds. Classical grammatical paradigms are those 
making up grammatical categories of words, or, morphological 
categories, e.g., the category of number or case of the noun: in 

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Ukrainian – стіл – стола – столу – столом – на столі; in 
English – toy – toys; tooth – teeth; children – children‘s, etc. 
Paradigm, in most general terms, is a system of variants of 
the same unit, which is called ‗the invariant‘; paradigmatic 
relations are the relations between the variants of the lingual unit 
within a paradigm. Not only words, but all lingual units are 
organized in the system of language paradigmatically according to 
their own categories; for example, sentences may be organized in 
paradigms according to the category ―the purpose of 
communication‖, in such paradigms declarative, interrogative and 
imperative sentence patterns of the same sentence invariant are 
opposed, e.g.: He laughed. – Did he laugh? – Let him laugh. 
Since these relations can‘t be observed in actual speech they are 
also described as relations ―in absentia‖ (―in the absence‖). [5] 
Paradigmatic relations coexist with syntagmatic relations 
in such a way that some sort of syntagmatic connection is 
necessary for the realisation of any paradigmatic series. This is 
especially evident -in a classical grammatical paradigm which 
presents a productive series of forms each consisting of a 
syntagmatic connection of two elements: one common for the 
whole of the series (stem), the other specific for every individual 
form in the series (grammatical feature – inflexion, suffix, 
auxiliary word). Grammatical paradigms express various 
grammatical categories. 
The minimal paradigm consists of two form-stages. This 
kind of paradigm we see, for instance, in the expression of the 
category of number: boy – boys. A more complex paradigm can 
be divided into component paradigmatic series, i.e. into the 
corresponding sub-paradigms (cf. numerous paradigmatic series 
constituting the system of the finite verb). In othe r words, with 
paradigms, the same as with any other systemically organised 
materia l, macro- and micro-series are to be discriminated.

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Paradigmatic relations exist not only in grammar, but in 
the phonetical and lexical systems of language as well. For 
example, paradigmatic relations exist between vowels and 
consonants, voiced and voiceless consonants, etc.; between 
synonyms and antonyms, in topical groups of words, word-
building models, etc. But paradigmatic relations are of primary 
importance for grammar, as the grammar of language is above all 
systemic.