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45 THE SAUSSUREAN DICHOTOMIES
word (or, more technically, lexeme). Thus (3) illustrates a Latin noun
paradigm.
(3) ‘lord’ singular plural
nominative dominus dominī
vocative domine dominī
accusative dominum dominōs
genitive dominī dominōrum
dative dominō dominīs
ablative dominō dominīs
In (3) we see a number of suffixes, each of which has a syntagmatic relationship
with the stem domin-. The endings themselves are in a paradigmatic relationship.
Note that elements in paradigmatic relationships share common features.
All the words in the first column in (2) are determiners, all those in the second
column are nouns and so on. Word classes can be thought of as being derived
from sets of paradigmatic relationships. Very specific syntagms can also show
semantically related words in relevant paradigms. Thus, consider (4), where
the verb – except in figurative uses – demands the word cat or a closely related
word.
(4) The cat miaowed.
kitten
tom
moggy
Signifier (signifiant) and signified (signifié)
Saussure insisted that the linguistic sign has two aspects to it: a sound side and
a meaning side. The two are tightly linked within a speech community, and can
be seen as being the two sides of the same playing card, but we must nevertheless
keep these two aspects of the sign separate from each other in our technical
understanding of the way in which language functions. The concept of a
pig may be carried by the sounds /piɡ/, but that concept is not to be equated
with that series of sounds. The sign unites the physical set of sounds (the
signifier, or signifiant) with a particular mental image (the signified or signifié).
Note that real-world pigs do not feature here. The sign links our mental image
of a pig with a particular set of sounds, not a real pig. The real pig has a very
indirect relationship with the sound sequence /piɡ/. The same argument
could be repeated for the series of hand-shapes and gestures in sign-languages
and their link to a particular meaning.