The paradigmatic principle - the idea that the process of using language involves choosing from a specifiable set of options - was established in semiotics by Saussure, whose concept of value (viz.
[2] In this context, Jay Lemke describes language as an open, dynamic system.
[4] In this use of the term “system”, grammatical, or other features of language, are considered best understood when described as sets of options.
[5] In Halliday’s early work, “system” was considered to be one of four fundamental categories for the theory of grammar, the others being unit, structure and class.
In systems thinking, any delineated object of study is defined by its relations to other units postulated by the theory.