By the ‘degree’ of the derivates we shall be referring to the number of the classes through which they are dependent on their lowest common class. If this number is 0, the derivates are said to be of the 1st degree; if the number is 1, the derivates are said to be of the 2nd degree; and so forth. In the example we have constructed above, where groups of syllables are thought of as analyzed into syllables, and these into parts of syllables, the syllables will thus be first-degree derivates of the groups of syllables, while the parts of syllables will be first-degree derivates of the syllables and second-degree derivates of the groups of syllables. ‘First-degree derivate’ and ‘component’ are consequently equivalent terms.
- Hjelmslev (1961), Pag. 33