Paradigmatic class as an element of the language system

Abstract

The subject of the research in the article is the paradigmatic class (PC), considering as a set of variants of language units united by an invariant. The purpose of the research is to characterize the structural and functional properties of the PC as a compound unit of language that unit performing cognitive functions (problem formulation and choice of solution alternatives). The formulation of the problem involves the formulation of an invariant, which is a sign unit denoting a set of PC elements. Research methods are general linguistic methods of observation and description, methods of discursive and cognitive analysis, semiotic methods and methods of language modeling. The following results were obtained. The PC elements that are in interchangeability relation form a fuzzy set. The membership function of this fuzzy set is determined by the discourse in which the PC and its component parts function. The results of the study can be used to analyze the content of texts of various subjects when solving a number of communicative tasks (teaching, editing, writing creative works, etc.).The new results of the work are the consideration of the PC as an observable part of the universal set of language units. At the same time, there may be elements in the PC that have a small value of the membership function, and in the unobservable part of the universal set, there may be elements that have a large value of the membership function when they appear in the PC. The formation of a set of PC elements and the creation of an invariant are determined by the discourse of language functioning which is illustrated in the article by the text of A.P. Chekhov's short story "Horse surname". The realization of the discursive situation "difficulty in remembering the desired surname" leads to the creation of a paradigmatic class of "horse surnames", and the choice of the desired surname is non-trivial, creative and requires the involvement of elements of a universal set that at first were not included in the PC.