Which is an example of an inflectional paradigm?

• A. A synonym set for a given word.
• B. A fixed sequence of sounds in a word.
• C. Noun: cat, cats; Verb: walk, walked.
• D. The process of deriving new words from roots.

Answer: (C)

An inflectional paradigm is the set of grammatical forms a word can take to express features like number, tense, or person. The pair for a noun—cat and cats—shows how a word changes to signal singular versus plural, while the pair for a verb—walk and walked—shows a change to mark past tense. These are all inflected forms of the same word, used to convey grammatical information rather than creating a new word with a different meaning.

Other options aren’t about changing a word’s form to express grammar. A synonym set relates to meaning, not form. A fixed sequence of sounds is about phonology, not morphology. Deriving new words from roots describes derivation, which creates new lexemes rather than inflected forms of the same word.