Paradigmatic and syntagmatic analysis Paradigmatic analysis vertical metaphor

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 A R A D I G M S NARRATIVE SYNTAGMS P A R A D I G M 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. 227 ff

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. 227 ff

Example: Alice’s hat is green. Paradigm Syntagm People Clothing Color Alice’s hat My coat The vicar’s pyjamas to be is isn’t were green. yellow. 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’ 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 Signifier