Tolkien vocabulary I (serious)

[Lostgaeriel]

Hey Sharku!

Thanks for the great examples of Tolkien's use of the word "fey". I like that word.

'fey' is an intriguing word worthy of being observed on the syntagmatic level:

But what does "syntagmatic" mean?! I can't find it in my dictionaries at home. Is it the same as "syntactic" - of or relating to syntax or in accordance with the rules of syntax?

OK. I found "syntagmatic" in some online dictionaries. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition 2000 [http://www.bartleby.com/61/] gives the meaning as "Of or relating to the relationship between linguistic units in a construction or sequence, as between the (n) and adjacent sounds in not, ant, and ton. The identity of a linguistic unit within a language is described by a combination of its syntagmatic and its paradigmatic relations."

And from CRITICAL TERMS AND DEFINITIONS edited by Malcolm Hayward June 22, 1995 [http://gradeng.en.iup.edu/mhayward/terms.htm] -
"Relationships between words which occur by virtue of the syntactic context of the words, as compared to paradigmatic relations (other words that are like that word)."

So Sharku, could you please elaborate on how a person like me, not well-educated in literature or linguistics, goes about observing the word "fey" [or any word for that matter] on the syntagmatic level? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for.
Eager to learn. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]