The English Vocabulary as a System

A system is a structured set of elements united by common relations. Vocabulary can be classified on etymological (native and borrowed words), stylistic (slang, argot, tewrms, vulgar and professional words, etc.), geographical (words of national language and dialectal ones) criteria.

Crucial for the systemic description of language are the two fundamental types of relations between lingual units: paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations.

The term is derived from the word paradigm and denotes the relations between elements in paradigms in the system of language. Ferdinand de Saussure called these relations ‘associative relations’, implying the way different linguistic units are arranged and associated with each other in human minds. Paradigm, in most general terms, is a system of variants of the same unit, which is called ‘the invariant’; paradigmatic relations are the relations between the variants of the lingual unit within a paradigm. In the lexical system paradigmatic relations exist between synonyms and antonyms, hyponyms and hypernyms, elements of semantic fields, word-building patterns, etc. Since these relations can’t be observed in actual speech they are also described as relations “in absentia” (“in the absence”). Paradigmatic relations are vertical.

The term “syntagmatic relations” is derived from the word syntagma, i.e. a linear combination of units of the same level. Lingual units form various lingual strings, sequences, or constructions; in other words, lingual units co-occur in the same actual sequences. E.g.: He started laughing. In this sentence we can point out syntagmatic, or linear relations between the sounds [h+i: ] = [hi: ]; [s+t+a: +t+i+d] = [̍'sta: tid]; etc.; the morphemes are also connected syntagmatically within words: start+ed = started; laugh+ing = laughing; the combinations of words form syntagmas within phrases and sentences: He + started; started + laughing. Besides, the sentence can be connected with other sentences by syntagmatic relations in the process of communication, in speech, e.g.: He started laughing. Everybody thought it was rather odd. Since these relations can be observed in actual utterances, they are also defined by the Latin term “ in praesentia ” (“in the presence”, present in the same sequence). In the lexical system paradigmatic relations exist within thematic groups and contexts. Unlike paradigmatic relations the syntagmatic ones don’t imply similarity or difference of signs. They only imply that the signs entering these relations can be used together in the process of human intercourse. Syntagmatic relations are horizontal since they are based on the linear character of speech.

Diagram 8.

Paradigmatic relations	Syntagmatic relations
	He	burst out	laughing.
I	began	giggling.
She	started	chuckling.

The distinction between syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations is conventionally indicated by horizontal and vertical presentation as it is shown on Diagram 8 above.