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