Lesson 5: Syntagmatic Analysis

Syntagmatic Relations

Syntagms are combinations of signs.

Syntagms are often defined as 'sequential' (and thus temporal - as in speech and music), but they can also represent spatial relationships. Spatial syntagmatic relations are found in drawing, painting and photography. Many semiotic systems - such as drama, cinema, television and the world wide web - include both spatial and temporal syntagms.

Syntagmatic Forms

Whilst narrative is based on sequential (and causal) relationships (e.g. in film and television narrative sequences), there are also syntagmatic forms based on spatial relationships (e.g. montage in posters and photographs, which works through juxtaposition) and on conceptual relationships (such as in exposition or argument). The distinctions between the modes of narrative, description, exposition and argument are not clear-cut (Brooks & Warren 1972, 44). Many texts contain more than one type of syntagmatic structure, though one may be dominant.

Exposition relies on the conceptual structure of argument or description. Briefly, the structure of an argument is both serial and hierarchical. It involves three basic elements:

• a proposition or series of propositions;
• evidence;
• justifications.

Resources for Lesson 5: