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63 CONTRAST AND SUBSTITUTION
Items which contrast are, by definition, in a paradigmatic relationship with
each other (see section 7), although we tend to call (1) a paradigm, where we
see the relationship between morphological elements, but not (2), where we see
the relationship between phonological elements.
(1) dominus
domine
dominum
dominī
dominō
dominō
(2) pli�t
bli�t
fli�t
sli�t
kli�t
Contrast, based on substitution, is one of the fundamental notions of linguistics.
We can see it as being based on the notion from information structure
that there can be no meaning unless there is contrast: if you have no choice as
to what to say, what you say doesn’t mean anything. (Though if we want to be
picky we can point out that there is always the option of saying nothing, and
that saying something predictable may nevertheless have affective social value.)
This is what underlies Saussure’s (1969 [1916]: 166) famous dictum ‘dans la
langue il n’y a que des différences’, usually translated into English as ‘in language,
only the differences count’. Those important differences are the contrasts.
There are also differences which do not count: the different kinds of [l]
sound or the different ways of marking past tense in English which are distinguishable
but not contrastive. We could perhaps rephrase Saussure: we cannot
have language without differences, but some of the observable differences are
not important for the system, while others are crucial. Languages depend on
contrast.
Reference
Saussure, Ferdinand de (1969 [1916]). Cours de linguistique générale. Paris: Payot.