word and paradigm (WP)

A MORPHOLOGICAL MODEL of description which sees the WORD as the basic UNIT of analysis, operating within a set of variables which constitute a PARADIGM. This is the traditional model of description, as illustrated from Latin GRAMMARS (e.g. amo, amas, amat . . . constitutes the paradigm of the LEXEME amo). WP is seen as a major alternative to the two other main approaches to morphological analysis: ITEM AND PROCESS and ITEM AND ARRANGEMENT. In contrast to the traditional use of paradigms in LANGUAGE study, linguistics does not arbitrarily choose one form of a word (the ‘leading form’) as given, and derive the rest of the paradigm from this (the student usually learning it by rote); rather, the aim is to define a common factor (a ROOT or STEM) within the paradigm, neutral with respect to the variant forms of the paradigm, and to derive the VARIANT forms from this, e.g. using rules.