Page 16 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes knowledge, discipline, etc. All these words are related in some way. This kind of relationship is
called associative or paradigmatic relationship. Here the co-ordinations are outside discourse, and
are not supported by linearity. They are relations in absentia, and are vertical type relations. Their
seat is in the brain; they are a part of the inner storehouse that makes up language of each
speaker.”
“Whereas a syntagm immediately suggests an order of succession and fixed number of elements,
terms in associative family occur neither in fixed numbers nor in a definite order. If we associate
painful, delightful, fruitful, etc. we are unable to predict the number of words that the memory
will suggest or the order in which they will appear. A particular word is like the centre of
constellation; it is the point of convergence of an indefinite number of co-ordinated terms.” In a
word, the paradigmatic relationship is vertical in absentia; it is a choice relationship, it operates in
phonemes, words, morphemes. The syntagmatic relationship, on the other hand, is horizontal, in
presentia. The dichotomy between the two can be illustrated in the following manner:

We can come tomorrow Syntagmatic
relationship
He may go next P
A
She will ask soon R
A
You could sleep now
D
I
I would eat ....
G
They should write .... M
A
Boys .... .... .... T
I
Girls .... .... .... C

Self-Assessment
1. Choose the correct option:
(i) Grammatical System is a ............... .
(a) stock of morphomes (b) a stock of phonemes
(c) stock of rules (d) None of these
(ii) Phonological system is a ............... .
(a) stock of rules (b) stock of phonemes
(c) stock of tones (d) None of these
(iii) The study of phonetics can be divided into ............... parts.
(a) two (b) three
(c) four (d) five
(iv) Phonology is the study of ............... .
(a) grammar (b) accent
(c) speech sounds (d) None of these

1.5 Summary

• Linguistics, therefore, is the science that describes and classifies languages. The linguist
identifies and describes the units and patterns of the sound system, the words and morphemes,
and the phrases and sentences, that is the structure of language, as completely, accurately,
and economically as possible.

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