Transcript SYNONYMS
ANTONYMS
definition of antonyms
V.N. Komissarov’s theory on
antonyms
classification of antonyms
conversives
Antonyms
belong to the same part speech
belong to the same semantic field
identical in style
nearly identical in distribution
denotational meanings render
contradictory or contrary notions
do not differ stylistically, in emotional
colouring
Contradictory or Contrary
Notions
contradictory notions – mutually opposed
and denying one another
e.g. alive – ‘not dead’
impatient – ‘not patient’
contrary notions – mutually opposed but
they are gradable
e.g. old – middle-aged – young
hot - warm – cool - cold
Antonyms (Ginzburg R.S.)
words different in sound-form
characterized by semantic
polarity of denotational meaning
characterized by
interchangeability in some
contexts
Semantic Polarity
presence of some common
semantic components in the
denotational meaning
e.g. ashamed – ‘feeling unhappy
or troubled’
proud – ‘feeling of happiness
or assurance’
Antonyms
usually appear in pairs – antonymic
pair
a polysemantic word may have an
antonym for each of its meanings
e.g. dull – interesting, amusing, entertaining
dull – clever, bright, capable
dull - active
Distribution of antonyms
among parts of speech
adjectives
e.g. wide – narrow, strong – weak
verbs
e.g. to lose – to find
nouns
e.g. friend - enemy
Distribution of antonyms
among parts of speech
adverbs
1. adverbs derived from adjectives
e.g. warmly – coldly, loudly – softly
2. adverbs proper
e.g. now – then, here – there
set expressions
e.g. by accident - on purpose
V. N. Kommissarov’s theory
on antonyms
two words shall be considered
antonymous if they are regularly
contrasted in actual speech
if the contrast in their meanings is
proved by definite types of
contextual co-occurrence (typical
contexts)
Typical Contexts
A and (or) B = all
e.g. If you have obeyed all the rules
good or bad
not A but (on the contrary) B
e.g. He was alive, not dead.
Typical Contexts
A or B
e.g. You will see if you were right or
wrong.
X is A, and Y, on the contrary B
e.g. The whole was big, oneself was
little
Criteria for distinguishing
antonyms (by V.N. Komissarov)
1. regular and frequent cooccurrence in typical contexts
2. the possibility of substitution
and identical lexical valency
Identical Contexts
e.g.
There is so much good in the worst of us,
and so much bad in the best of us.
e.g.
Where most I Iost, there most I won.
Identical Lexical Valency
valency – power to combine with
different words
e.g. hot ‘angry, exited’
anger,
resentment,
cold
scorn
(unpleasant
emotions)
Classification of
Antonyms
1. absolute or root antonyms
(contrary notions)
e.g. to love – to hate
Classification of Antonyms
2. derivational antonyms (express
contradictory notions)
formed with negative prefixes (un-,
non-, dis-)
e.g. to please – to displease
antonymous suffixes –ful and –less
e.g. painful - painless
R.S. Ginzburg’s Classification
contradictories – to use one of
the words of this pair is to
contradict the other. To use NOT
before one of them means to make
them semantically equivalent
e.g. single - married
R.S. Ginzburg’s Classification
contraries – admit the possibility
of some intermediate members
which are also antonymic
e.g. cold
hot
cool - warm
I.V. Arnold’s Classification
antonyms proper – the semantic
polarity is relative, the opposition is
gradual, it may have several
elements characterized by different
degrees of the same properties.
They always imply comparison
e.g. large - small
I.V. Arnold’s Classification
complementarity antonyms –
form binory opposition. The
denial of one member implies
the assertion of the other
e.g. male - female
Conversives
denote one and the same referent
viewed from different viewpoints: a)
viewpoint of a subject b) viewpoint
of an object
e.g. to sell – to buy, left – right,
husband – wife
Conversives
the substitution of a conversive
does not change the meaning of a
sentence if it is combined with
morphological and syntactical
changes
e.g. He gives her flowers.
She receives flowers from him