Paradigm and Syntagm

Develop your understanding of how signs acquire meaning through their relationship to other signs.

Introduction

Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) argued the signs we use to express our thoughts and feelings only make sense because of the “presence” of other signs in the language system. Signs acquire their values through their “associative relations” and when they are “chained together” into sequences.

The meaning of the word fear, according to Saussure, is fixed by its difference to the word dread. Although the two signs are closely related, fear is a basic emotional response to danger whereas dread signifies a feeling of anxiety that something terrible might happen.

The value of the word fear is also determined by other words in the sequence, such as the sentence she overcame her fear of the dark.

In communication studies, paradigm and syntagm refer to these relationships influencing how we construct and interpret messages. By analysing the “presence” of signs in media texts, we can critically assess the representations and draw attention to the biases often encoded by the producers.

We are going begin by exploring definitions of paradigms and syntagms and then get a better understanding of the concepts by applying them to a range of advertisements.

Paradigm Definition

A paradigm is a set of signs that share a common function or feature.

Verbs are a class of words that describe the actions performed by the nouns. That is their function in the sentence. Importantly, you can substitute another sign from the paradigm into the sentence, and it should still make sense:

• I walked to school.
• I trudged to school.
• I skipped to school.

The first sentence is neutral because the verb walked is simply stating how the character made their way to school. The second sentence also describes the character making their way to school but trudged signifies their reluctance or a sense of dread. The third sentence could suggest the character is delighted because they have completed their media studies homework to a high standard.

Although the meaning changed when one verb was substituted for another, the sentences still work grammatically and communicate the concept of movement.

Anything can be grouped together into a paradigm based on their features. Fear and dread are associated with a set of negative emotions. School, college and university refer to places of learning. You might be reading this explanation of paradigms on a computer, laptop, tablet or mobile phone which are all devices.

Now you know paradigms are the “associative relations” between signs, don’t get distracted and start doomscrolling through TikTok and Instagram – a paradigm of social media platforms.

Syntagm Definition

A syntagm is the combination of signs into a meaningful sequence, such as I walked to school.

If you are studying a print product, the message will be constructed through the spatial relationship between the signifiers on the page.

Moving images have a temporal relationship between the shots. Consider this classic example from Lev Kuleshov, a Russian filmmaker who experimented with the form:

By splicing the shot of the man’s face with the bowl of soup, Kuleshov suggests the man is hungry. Replacing the soup with the young girl creates a different interpretation of the man’s face – loss and despair. His reaction to the lady on the chaise longue could suggest feelings of desire and lust. The sequencing of signs gives them value.

Paradigm and Syntagm Diagram

In linguistics classes, paradigms are often presented vertically and syntagms run along the horizontal axis.

In this diagram, the verbs are a paradigm because the definition of love is dependent on our understanding of loathe. You can exchange any of the verbs, and the shape of the sentence will remain the same. Of course, the noun phrases also have a paradigmatic relationship.

The combination of signs forms a sentence, or syntagm.

Ferdinand de Saussure

Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist who was fascinated by the structure of language and wanted to take a more scientific approach to studying the life of words. His lecture notes, which were organised and published by two of his students into A Course in General Linguistics, introduced the term semiology and influenced the way we approach signs. Saussure used a building analogy to explain the concept of syntagms. In the same way words combine in a sentence to create content and meaning, a building is the sum of its various parts.

A column needs to support the weight of the architrave and pediment to acquire the definition of a column, or else it is just blocks of stone stacked on top of each other.

Saussure also used the different styles of columns to reinforce his concept of a paradigm. An ionic column is slimmer and more ornate than the earlier Doric versions. The Corinthian column is even sleeker and more decorative.

language is a system of interdependent terms in which the value of each term results solely from the simultaneous presence of the others

Ferdinand de Saussure

Don’t worry if you are not familiar with these terms from architecture. Saussure was simply making the point that the fashion and construction technique may have changed over the years, but the function of columns remained the same.

A fancy column is still a column.

The Clothing Analogy

David Lodge (1977) offered a more accessible analogy. He divided outfits into three paradigms:

• footwear (trainers, sandals, stilettos);
• lower body (jeans, shorts); and
• upper body (jumpers, long sleeve tops, T shirts).

Remember, a paradigm is a set of signs with the same function or feature, so you can substitute your trainers for leather shoes and your tracksuit for jeans.

The combination of T-shirt, jeans and trainers is a common syntagm and forms a “kind of sentence”.

It is also worth noting signs are influenced by the cultural, social and political contexts. For example, developing the clothing analogy, Susan Spiggle (1998) argued wearing informal shorts conveys different meanings at the beach compared to a formal dinner.

Nescafé Example

The best way to develop your understanding and knowledge of paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships is to apply the concepts to examples from the media. This print advertisement was created by Reny Manda Sari, a graphic designer from Indonesia, who was inspired by Nescafé’s aroma and their tagline Wake up to life.

Signs have a physical form that communicate some sort of mental concept. Ferdinand de Saussure labelled the two parts the signifier and the signified. However, it is the interplay of signs that determines their value. For example, the signifier of the mug relies on the Nescafé branding to create the concept of coffee. Without this syntagmatic relationship, the mug would just be a mug.

The dark brown background carries no real value on its own but does reinforce the concept of coffee in this advertisement because it is the same colour as the beans.

The steam rising from the mug is depicted as an alarm clock set for 7:00am for the morning start. Alarm clocks often connote schedules, obligations and good time management. Our interpretation of the two signs is then anchored by the strapline Wake up to life.

The preferred reading of the advertisement makes sense when we read through the signs. If you want to make the most of your day, have a mug of Nescafé coffee.

Saussure argued “in the syntagm a term acquires its value only because it stands in opposition to everything that precedes or follows it, or to both”. His diagram is a great summary of this process.

In the Nescafé advertisement, the mug of coffee acquires its value because of its relationship to other signs in the syntagm.

McDonald’s Advertisement

The combination of the outstretched hand, burger box, table, and plain background signifies a customer eating food at a McDonald’s restaurant. It is a straightforward syntagmatic relationship.

However, the preferred reading of the message relies on our understanding of the unexpected paradigm – the physical resemblance between the clamshell container and an open laptop. Instead of reaching for a burger, the reader now decodes the movement as the customer typing on their keyboard.

This interpretation is anchored by the strapline Free Wi-Fi served at all restaurants. It is a very clever substitution of signs.

Opticians Advertisement

The following advertisement positions the reader to believe wearing glasses influences our status in society. The man on the left is labelled truck driver. He becomes Dr Professor by wearing the stylish, black-rimmed spectacles.

Spotting the difference between the two representations creates a syntagmatic relationship. There is also a spatial relationship between each man and the writing underneath.

The occupations are a paradigm.

It is important to critically assess representations in the media in terms of syntagms and paradigms because the “presence” of signs can be harmful. In this example, truck driver is used in a derogatory way because the job seems to carry less value than a professor.

Mean Girls

Grossing an impressive $130m worldwide on its release, Mean Girls (2004) quickly developed a cult following. It was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2018 and remade in 2024. The film tells the story of Cady Heron who becomes friends with a popular but incredibly vicious clique of girls at her new school. When she falls in love with one of their ex-boyfriends, the rivalry becomes bitter and vengeful.

Most of the promotional material focused on the representing the main characters in a way the audience could easily appreciate their roles in the narrative. This image is from the front of the DVD cover.

David Lodge’s clothing analogy is a useful framework to analyse this box art. In terms of the lower body paradigm, the pink skirts are a traditional feminine mode whereas blue jeans encode a more casual, gender-neutral style. Jeans are usually paired with trainers which would contrast with the Plastics’ high heels.

Non-verbal codes are another paradigm. The Plastics seem more confident and aggressive, especially their direct mode of address gazing at the audience. By contrast, the protagonist is looking over her shoulder with dread.

Our interpretation of the characters depends on the syntagmatic relationship between the Plastics and Cody. The antagonism is clear. Notice how Cody is foregrounded to signify it is her story the audience will be following and how the Plastics are positioned beneath the word Mean to suggest their function in narrative.

The font choice is also interesting. Mean is presented in a much heavier weight than Girls to emphasise their cruelty. This contrast works because of fonts are a paradigm and we can recognise the difference.

Breitling

We want to end our analysis with a quick focus on a syntagmatic relationship. Obviously, the Breitling watch uses celebrity endorsement to sell the product. However, the combination of the watch and the private jet suggests the brand is for wealthy and successful individuals.

The next time you see an advertisement, pay attention to how the producers position the consumer to transfer feelings from signs used in the background to the goods and services being promoted. It is an incredibly common trick.

Final Thoughts

Paradigms are signs which have a similar purpose or intent. The difference between the signs fixes their definitions. Signs also acquire values when they are “chained” to other signs in a sequence. Ferdinand de Saussure argued this interplay of signs “governs” the language system.

When you are analysing a media text, you should identify the message the producers are trying to convey to the audience. You should then support this interpretation by describing how the “presence” of different signs encode meaning.