The Geometry of Linguistic Oppositions and the Issue of Paradigmatic Contrast. A Case in Point

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the issue of the paradigmatic contrast of a given grammatical system as a central stance in structural linguistics. The discussion will be carried out by comparing two different renderings of the system of cases of Lezgi, namely Louis Hjelmslev’s theory, as exposed in his work La catégorie des cas. Étude de grammaire générale (1935, 1937) and Martin Haspelmath’s model, presented in his A Grammar of Lezgian (2011 [1993]). This comparison is not meant to pit their views one against the other, which would be anachronistic, but rather to capitalise on their common object to showcase the differences in the respective stances, laying bare the machinery behind Hjelmslev’s approach and highlighting the conditions of such a description. Further remarks are drawn as consequences.

Keywords

• Hjelmslev (Louis)
• structural linguistics
• functional linguistics
• paradigmatic contrast
• case
• linguistic opposition