What Is The Difference Between Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations

What is the Difference between
Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic

Relations?
Syntagmatic Relations
Syntagmatic relation refers to the relationship between words in a
sentence.Any alterations to the word combination can change the
meaning of the sentence:
1. Paul is bathing a dog.

2. A dog is bathing Paul.
Both sentences have the same components but in a different order.In

other words, the syntagmatic relation explains how the word's
position in a sentence determines the meaning of the sentence.
Paul + is bathing + a dog
A dog + is bathing + Paul

A Syntagmis a 'linguistic unit' in a relationship with other such units
in a particular sequence.Individual syntagms are the building blocks of
text.Syntagms are grouped to form words, words are grouped to form
phrases, and phrases are grouped to form sentences, etc. Paragraphs
and chapters are considered a syntagm of words, and the grouping is
sometimes called a chain.
Paradigmatic Relation
Paradigmatic relation involves the differentiation and selection of
words in a sentence.Look at this sentence:
The |man |cried
We can see how words canact as building blocks that make up the
sentence.However, since paradigmatic relations involve substitutions
and selections, we can replace a word in the sentence to make
different combinations or meanings.
The |man |sang
Or:
The |man |died
Or even:
The |boy |cried.
Paradigmatic relationships are sets of associated words (paradigms)

which are all members of some defining category.
What are some further examples of

Paradigmatic Relations?
Subject Object
verb
↑
Determiner Adjective Noun Noun
Paradigmatic
Relations
beautiful woman buys some bread
↓
The
old lady buys some cakes

some
handsome man sold
vegetables
tall boy is eating a hotdog
As you can see, there are several possible variations of 'The beautiful
woman buys the bread':
 The old lady buys some cakes.

 The handsome man sold some vegetables.
 The tall boy is eating a hotdog.
We can conclude that:
 Paradigmatic relation describes a substitution relationship

between words with the same word class.The substitution occurs
on a vertical axis, as shown in the diagrams above and below.
 Syntagmatic relation is about the relationship / position between
words in a sentence.The syntagmatic relation occurs on the
horizontal axis.
←Syntagmatic Relations→
↑
Subject Object
Paradigmatic verb
Determiner Adjective Noun Noun
The beautiful woman buys some brioche
relations
At unattractive lady buys some bread
That handsome man ate some chicken

↓
Paradigmatic relation:
Let's take 'The beautiful woman buys some brioche'.
 The beautiful woman can choose to buy some bread or chicken

instead of brioche.
 Brioche, bread, and chicken are parts of a paradigm of food that
the beautiful woman can buy.
 The items in a paradigm share some unifying quality, and the
paradigm is the set or category they belong to (food).
 Some words from the sentence can also be substituted vertically:
'An unattractive (antonym) lady (synonymy) buys some bread
(hyponymy)'.
Syntagmatic relation:
Let's take 'That handsome man ate some chicken'.
 The combination of 'that handsome man + ate + some chicken'

forms a syntagmatic relationship.
 If the word position is changed, it also changes the meaning of
the sentence, eg 'Some chicken ate the handsome man'.
 Furthermore, the linear relationship also occurs at phrase-level:
it is 'handsome + man', not 'handsome + woman'.
What are the different types of

Paradigmatic Relations?
There are different types of paradigmatic relations.From the examples
above, we can see that paradigmatic relations involve substituting a
word for another word from the same word class, either with a similar
meaning (synonymy), an opposite meaning (antonymy), or a-kind-of
meaning (hyponymy).
Synonymy
Synonymy is when words have similar meanings.The meaning of A is
similar to B (A ≈ B).
Some examples of synonyms are:
 I want to live in a big country house ≈ I want to live in a huge

country house.
 It was a difficult decision to make ≈ It was a hard decision to
make.
 The food was excellent ≈ The food was great.
Synonyms can be divided into two subtypes:
1. Absolute synonyms: the meaning and grammatical function of

the synonymous words are exactly the same, eg airport and
aerodrome.
2. Partial synonyms: the meaning of the synonymous words are
only similar.Partial synonyms can differ in collocation, register,
and regional / social variation.
Be careful when doing word substitution with synonymy.Not every

synonymous word fits in all situations (partial synonyms).You have to
consider some factors, such as the context, relationship between
words, register, regional variation, etc.
 'China has the world's largest population' vs. 'China has the
world's most gigantic population' → differ in collocation.
 'We will commence the construction next month' vs. 'We will
start the construction next month' → differ in register (formal-
informal).
 'I'll make some chocolate biscuits for Christmas' vs. 'I'll make
some chocolate cookies for Christmas' → differ in regional
usage (British English vs. American English).
Antonymy
Antonymy is when words have opposite meanings.The meaning of A
is the opposite of B (A↔B).
Some examples of antonyms are:
 I want to live in a big country house ↔ I want to live in a small

country house
 It was a difficult decision to make ↔ It was an easy decision to
make
 The food was excellent ↔ The food was terrible
Antonyms can be divided into three subtypes:

1. Gradable antonyms define words that are at the opposite ends of
a spectrum with some gradation in between the two extremes, eg
hot - cold.
2. Complementary antonyms explain an either-or-relationship
between opposite word pairs, eg true - false.
3. Relational / converse antonyms show a dependent relationship
between the opposite words, eg husband - wife.
Important to note: The word substitution with antonym is relatively

free without restrictions. Of course, you need to consider that the
sentence's meaning will change if you substitute a word with its
antonym.
Hyponymy (hypernym & co-hyponym)

Hyponymy refers to a super- and subordination relationship between
words.A is a kind of B (A ↑ ↓ B).
Some examples of hyponyms are:
 Sweep, wipe, and scrub (hyponyms) are kinds of (to) clean

(hypernym).
 Red, blue, and yellow (hyponyms) are kinds of colors
(hypernym).
 Poodle, labrador, and pomeranian (hyponyms) are kinds of dogs
(hypernym).
If you want to keep the sentence meaning like its original, substitute
the word with its hypernym (superordinate of a word) and not with its
co-hyponym (hyponyms on the same hierarchical level).For instance,
I have to babysit my sister's poodle this weekend.
 Meaning kept: substitute poodle with dog (hypernym of poodle)

→ 'I have to babysit my sister's dog this weekend'.The meaning
is not exactly the same, but it generalizes the category.
 Meaning changed: substitute poodle with labrador (co-hyponym
of poodle) → 'I have to babysit my sister's labrador this
weekend'.The meaning is different.
With this in mind, the sentence 'The beautiful woman buys some
brioche' can be re-written in a variety of meaningful ways.By using or
we can create a range of sentences:
Example The beautiful woman buys some brioche
similar meaning synonym pretty lady buys some brioche
opposite meaning antonym The unattractive man sold some brioche
superordinate meaning hyponymous beautiful woman buys some bread
Paradigmatic Relations - Key takeaways
 Paradigmatic relation is concerned with the substitution of

words in a sentence as long as they belong to the same word
class.
 A paradigm is a set of associated concepts or sound images

which are members of a category, yet each element is different.
 Syntagmatic relation refers to the relationship between words in

a sentence.
 A Syntagm is a relationship between words in the same

sentence.
 Synonymy refers to words with similar meanings (A ≈ B), eg

big - large, huge, gigantic.
 Antonymy refers to words with opposite meanings (A↔B), eg

big - small.
 Hyponymy refers to a super- and subordination relationship
between words (A ↑ ↓ B, where A is a kind of B), eg bread -
brioche, challah, sourdough.
Paradigmatic Relations
What is a Paradigmatic Relation?
Paradigmatic Relation involves the substitution and selection of words in
a sentence to create different combinations or meanings, and is concerned
with the way words are grouped together into categories.
What is an example of Paradigmatic Relation?
An example of paradigmatic relation involves how words in the same
group, or word class, can be exchanged for each other in a sentence: 'The
dog / cat / chimpanzee bit me'.
What are some types of Paradigmatic Relations?
Some types of paradigmatic relation are synonymy, antonymy, and
hyponymy - these are all examples of the substitution method.
What is the difference between Paradigmatic and
Syntagmatic Relation?
Paradigmatic Relation involves the substitution and selection of words in
a sentence to create different combinations or meanings. Syntagmatic
relation refers to the relationship between words in a sentence and how
any alterations to the word combination in a sentence can change the
meaning of the sentence.

What Is The Difference Between Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations

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What is the Difference between

Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic

1. Paul is bathing a dog.

Both sentences have the same components but in a different order.In

Paul + is bathing + a dog

A dog + is bathing + Paul

The |man |sang

The |man |died

The |boy |cried.

Paradigmatic relationships are sets of associated words (paradigms)

What are some further examples of

old lady buys some cakes

tall boy is eating a hotdog

 The old lady buys some cakes.

We can conclude that:

 Paradigmatic relation describes a substitution relationship

That handsome man ate some chicken

 The beautiful woman can choose to buy some bread or chicken

 The combination of 'that handsome man + ate + some chicken'

What are the different types of

 I want to live in a big country house ≈ I want to live in a huge

1. Absolute synonyms: the meaning and grammatical function of

Be careful when doing word substitution with synonymy.Not every

Some examples of antonyms are:

 I want to live in a big country house ↔ I want to live in a small

Antonyms can be divided into three subtypes:

Important to note: The word substitution with antonym is relatively

Hyponymy (hypernym & co-hyponym)

Some examples of hyponyms are:

 Sweep, wipe, and scrub (hyponyms) are kinds of (to) clean

I have to babysit my sister's poodle this weekend.

 Meaning kept: substitute poodle with dog (hypernym of poodle)

Example The beautiful woman buys some brioche

similar meaning synonym pretty lady buys some brioche

opposite meaning antonym The unattractive man sold some brioche

superordinate meaning hyponymous beautiful woman buys some bread

Paradigmatic Relations - Key takeaways

 Paradigmatic relation is concerned with the substitution of

 A paradigm is a set of associated concepts or sound images

 Syntagmatic relation refers to the relationship between words in

 A Syntagm is a relationship between words in the same

 Synonymy refers to words with similar meanings (A ≈ B), eg

 Antonymy refers to words with opposite meanings (A↔B), eg

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