Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
paradigm (n.)
means “a pattern or model,” and it is pronounced either PER-uh-DEIM or PER-uh-dim. In grammar a paradigm is a pattern or an example of grammatical forms: cat, cat’s, cats, cats’; swim, swims, swam, have swum, has swum, swimming are typical paradigms—full lists of the forms that the noun cat and the verb swim can take. The more general sense, “model,” usually indicates the best of its kind: The house was a paradigm of good taste.
