Paradigm (from the Greek
para- deigma —to exhibit side by side). In general use, a paradigm is an exemplary model, and from this the word has developed regular use in linguistics to describe grammatical forms which are taken as models - for example, the conjugation of a particular verb which stands as an example or model of the type.
In twentieth-century linguistics, the term paradigm is also used by extension as the name for the set of all the possibilities in a particular language, and the word syntagm is used to name the particular selection made from the set to produce any particular utterance. (Syntagm derives from the Greek syntaxis — to put together, to put in order.) This order of distinction begins in Ferdinand de Saussure's influential Cours de linguistique générale
200 words
Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Paradigm, paradigmatic". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 July 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=814, accessed 18 April 2024.]
