Antonymy

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Do you still remember

A lexeme which is related to other lexemes is related to them in sense.
homonymy synonymy

polysemy

sense relations
antonymy

hyponymy

Antonymy

Types of Antonyms

Some of the Characteristics of Antonyms

The Use of Antonyms

Some relevant points about antonyms

Word order of antonymous pairs
(A) (B)

heaven and earth man and wife cause and effect come and go far and near black and white thick and thin

fire and water heat and cold right and left rich and poor heavy and light old and new sooner or later

Some relevant points about antonyms

Some pairs seem to be antonyms, but actually they are synonyms.
loosen --- unloosen valuable --- invaluable flammable --- inflammable shameful --- shameless heritable --- inheritable a good scare --- a bad scare a slim chance --- a fat chance quite a lot --- quite a few

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
Antonymy oppositeness of meaning (semantic opposition) Antonyms words which are opposite in meaning
e.g. big---small man---woman

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
According to WNDS, there are 6 classes of antonyms: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) contradictory terms contrary terms relative terms reverse terms contrasted terms incompatibles

TYPES OF ANTONYMS

1.
2.

Complementaries
Contraries

3.

Converses

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
1. Complementaries /contradictory terms
---forms of antonyms which truly represent oppositeness of meaning e.g. true---false boy---girl bent---straight correct---incorrect same---different perfect---imperfect

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
Features of complementaries:
a. They are so opposed to each other that they are mutually exclusive and admit no possibility between them.
e.g. male---female dead---alive

b. They are nongradable: they cannot be use in comparative degrees and do not allow adverbs of intensity like very to qualify them.
e.g. single---married

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
2. Contraries /gradable antonyms

--- best envisaged in terms of a scale running between two poles or extremes. ...... beautiful, good-looking, average, plain, ugly ......

e.g. white---black heavy---light love---hate old---young begin---end

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
Features of contraries:
Contraries are gradable, and the semantic contrast in a contrary pair is relative; i.e. there are often intermediate terms between the two opposites.
e.g. hot---cold
*Semantic polarity: they form part of a scale

of values between two poles and can accommodate a middle ground belonging neither to one pole nor to the other.

..

TYPES OF ANTONYMS

3. Converses

Relational opposites

Reverse terms

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TYPES OF ANTONYMS
Relational opposites: This pairs of words indicate such a reciprocal social relationship that one of them cannot be used without suggesting the other.
e.g. interviewer--interviewee husband--wife boyfriend--girlfriend trainer---trainee perdecessor--successor parent---child

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TYPES OF ANTONYMS
Reverse terms:
Reverse terms comprise adjectives and adverbs signifying a quality and verbs and nouns signifying an act or state that reverse or undo the quality, action or state of the other.
e.g. give---receive buy---sell ask---answer up---down come---go

TYPES OF ANTONYMS
*boy--girl vs

boyfriend--girlfriend ?

? complementaries

relational opposites

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANTONYMS

1. Antonyms 3. Antonyms are classified differ in on the basis TEXT TEXT TEXT semantic of semantic inclusion. opposition.

5. Some words can have two different types of antonyms at the TEXT same time, one being the negative and the other opposite.

4. Contraries are 2. Words which are polysemantic can have more than one antonym.
gradable antonyms,differing in degree of intensity, so each has its own corresponding opposite.

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANTONYMS

adjectives
verbs nouns

Words like write, game, eat, money,magazine, hair, bag etc.

In a language, there are a great many more synonyms than antonyms.

> >

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANTONYMS

somebody

weather

intelligent

Dull

sunny

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANTONYMS

* Pairs of antonyms are seen as unmarked and marked terms repectively. Marked
(more specific)

Unmarked man chicken

adjectives

woman cock small light

nouns

big heavy

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANTONYMS

e.g. happy---unhappy---sad productive---unproductive---destructive free---unfree---enslaved

THE USE OF ANTONYMS

1 Defining the meanings of a given word.

2
Enabling us to express economically the opposite of a particular thought, often for the sake of contrast.

3
Forming antithesis to achieve emphasis by putting contrasting ideas together.

THE USE OF ANTONYMS

*Different contexts or collocations also bring about different antonyms.
e.g. an old man --- a young man an old house --- a modern/new house
a tall building --- a low building a tall man --- a short man fresh bread --- stale bread fresh air --- stuffy air fresh flower --- faded flower fresh look --- tired look

THE USE OF ANTONYMS

Some proverbs and sayings are illustrative examples. Many great writers are fond of using antonyms to serve their stylistic purpose.

THE USE OF ANTONYMS

e.g. rain or shine now or never thick and thin weal and woe high and low give and take up and down ins and outs

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