Synonymous with what is now commonly called paradigmatic. Associative and paradigmatic are terms used to denote the way in which words or concepts relate to each other in discourse; Syntagmatic, on the other hand, is used to identify differences between such concepts.
Related: Axis
The meaning of a statement is a function of associative (paradigmatic) and syntagmatic relations.
In one statement, the concepts are connected. They relate syntagmatically to each other. But when correlating them in this way, a choice is made – some other concepts are not chosen, although for greater clarity it should be. These alternative concepts are associatively or paradigmatically correlated with those actually used in the sentence. The terms actually used have a halo of associations that contributes to the meaning of the sentence.
Association is a term used by Saussure as opposed to syntagmatic. Due to the need to free linguistics from psychological terms that Saussure often used (e.g., mentalism), the association was replaced with paradigmatic.
