syntagms

Syntagms (singular: syntagm) are units of language defined by their linear, sequential combination of signs that form a larger linguistic structure such as a phrase, clause, or sentence. In structuralist and semiotic analysis, the language system is described along two axes: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. The syntagmatic axis concerns how signs are arranged in sequence and how they co-occur in actual utterances, while the paradigmatic axis concerns the set of signs that could replace each other in a given position.

Examples illustrate the concept. The sequence the quick brown fox is a syntagm: determiner + adjective + adjective + noun function together to form a meaningful unit. Substituting words at a given position—such as dog for fox—changes the unit but preserves its role. The order of elements matters, and rearranging them can produce a different syntagm or render it ungrammatical.

Syntagmatic relations capture adjacency and combination: how signs co-occur, constrain each other, and contribute to the meaning and structure of a larger text. In practice, linguists analyze sentences by identifying constituent syntagms (for example, noun phrases and verb phrases) and examining how they line up along the syntagmatic axis. The concept also applies in semiotics and literary analysis to study how sequences of signs create patterns and meaning.

Distinctions from the paradigm: while syntagms concern fixed sequences, paradigms concern potential substitutions within a position. Together, syntagmatic and paradigmatic analyses help describe how language creates coherent utterances and texts.