syntagm
/ˈsɪntam
/(also syntagma /sɪnˈtaɡmə/)
noun (plural syntagms, syntagmas, or syntagmata /sɪnˈtaɡmətə/)
1A linguistic unit consisting of a set of linguistic forms (phonemes, words, or phrases) that are in a sequential relationship to one another. Often contrasted with paradigm. the syntagm is always composed of two or more units...
- For Saussure, syntagms are a ‘horizontal’ dimension of language, and are the regular and typical patterns of structure in the language system.
- The tone, mood, fast-paced interjections, and witty syntagms of the 1940s vernacular are very difficult to convey in the several lines of subtitled translation.
- In written etic discourse, which is, after all, a linear string of syntagms, one may need to break off in order to ‘enflesh’ a character.
1.1The relationship between any two syntagms.
Origin
Mid 17th century: via late Latin from Greek suntagma, from suntassein 'arrange together'.