Paradigmatic and syntagmatic

analysis
 Paradigmatic analysis

vertical
metaphor
selective/associative
bipolar oppositions
meaning by context (media, genre)
Syntagmatic analysis

horizontal
metonymy
combinative
composed of paradigms
narrative
Vertical / horizontal

P P
A A
R R
NARRATIV
A A
E
D SYNTAGMS D
I I
G G
M M
S S
 Paradigmatic and syntagmatic

• Paradigmatic
– A dissimilar thing that can be exchanged for
the thing of which the value is to be
determined
• Syntagmatic
– Similar things that can be compared with the
thing of which the value is to be determined
 Paradigmatic analysis
• Paradigmatic analysis is the analysis of
paradigms embedded in the text rather
than of the surface structure (syntax) of
the text which is termed
syntagmatic analysis. Paradigmatic
analysis often uses commutation tests, i.e.
analysis by substituting words of the same
type or class to calibrate shifts in
connotation.
 Syntagmatic analysis, syntax
• In semiotics syntagmatic analysis is analysis of syntax
or surface structure (Syntagmatic structure), rather than
paradigms as in paradigmatic analysis. This is often
done through commutation tests.
• Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn,
meaning "co-" or "together") and τάξις (táxis, meaning
"sequence, order, arrangement"), can in linguistics be
described as the study of the rules, or "patterned
relations" that govern the way the words in a sentence
come together. It concerns how different words (which,
going back to Dionysios Thrax, are categorized as nouns
, adjectives, verbs, etc.) are combined into clauses,
which, in turn, are combined into sentences.
 Commutation test
• According to Daniel Chandler, the commutation
test may involve any of four basic transformations
which, to a greater or lesser extent, involve
modification of the syntagm:
• Paradigmatic transformations
– substitution;
– transposition;
• Syntagmatic transformations
– addition;
– deletion.
 Syntagms and paradigms
• Syntagms defined as a coherent
sequence of signs
– A sentence (Jack jumped over the
candlestick.)
– Whole story lines as in sit coms
• Paradigmatic analysis looks at sets of
signs and how they come to stand for
something else
 Paradigmatic and syntagmatic
(semiotic) analysis
• The value of a term within a text depends on the
contrasts with alternative terms that have not
been chosen (paradigmatic or associative
relations)
• The value of a term depends on the relations
with the other terms that precede and follow it
(syntagmatic relations).
• A paradigm, or associative set, is a group of
terms that are related or similar, and different.

Observations taken from Gemma Penn, “Semiotic Analysis of Still

Images” in Bauer, Martin W. and Gaskell, George, Eds. Qualitative
Researching with Text, image and Sound: A practical Handbook.
Sage: London, 2000, p. 227ff
 Paradigmatic and syntagmatic
(semiotic) analysis

• The meaning of a term is delimited by the set of unchosen

terms and by the way in which the chosen terms are
combined with each other to create a meaningful whole.

Observations taken from Gemma Penn, “Semiotic Analysis of Still

Images” in Bauer, Martin W. and Gaskell, George, Eds. Qualitative
Researching with Text, image and Sound: A practical Handbook.
Sage: London, 2000, p. 227ff
 Example: Alice’s hat is green.
Syntagm
People Clothing to be Color
Paradigm

Alice’s hat is green.

My coat isn’t yellow.
The vicar’s pyjamas were pink.

The value of each term is determined by its place in the

syntagm--by the other terms in the sentence that precede and
follow it.
Also by the set of alternative terms that might replace it.
 Syntagmatic and Associative Relations
• “In discourse, on the one hand, words acquire relations based on the
linear nature of language because they are chained together. [...]
• Combinations supported by linearity are syntagms. The syntagm is
always composed of two or more consecutive units [...]. In the
syntagm a term acquires its value only because it stands in opposition
to everything that precedes or follows it, or to both.
• Outside discourse, on the other hand, words acquire relations of a
different kind. Those that have something in common are associated
in memory, resulting groups are marked by diverse relations. [...]
• We see that the co-ordinations formed outside discourse differ
strikingly from those formed inside discourse. Those formed outside
discourse are not supported by linearity. Their seat is in the brain;
they are a part of the inner storehouse that makes up the language of
each speaker. They are associative relations.” (p. 123).
Syntagmatic and Associative Relations
Associative (Paradigmatic) Axis

C’’’

C’’

C’

A B C D E Syntagmatic
Axis
 Linguistic Values
• Values are composed of
– A dissimilar thing that can be exchanged for
the thing of which the value is to be
determined
– Similar things that can be compared with the
thing of which the value is to be determined

Signified Signified Signified

Signifier Signifier Signifier