Example word of antonym

Antonymy
is a type of paradigmatic relations based on polarity of meaning.

Antonyms
(Gr. antí
‘against,’
ónyma
‘name’)
are two or more words of the same language belonging to the same part
of speech and to the same semantic field, identical in style and
nearly identical in distribution, associated and often used together
so that their denotative meanings render contrary or contradictory
notions.

For
the analysis of the semantic continuum where synonyms and antonyms
interplay, one can use the ‘semiotic square’ model suggested by
Algirdas Greimas, a Lithuanian-born linguist and semiotician who laid
the foundations for the Paris School of Semiotics
and is
considered, along with Roland Barthes, the most prominent of the
French semioticians.

According
to the character of semantic opposition:

Antonyms
proper
(contrary antonyms) are antonyms which possess the following
characteristics:

-they
are gradable, i.e. there are some intermediate units between the most
distant members of a set, e.g. cold
– cool – tepid – warm – hot;
never
– seldom – sometimes – often – always;

-they
are capable of comparison, e.g. good
– better – best
vs. bad
– worse – worst;

-they
can be modified by such intensifiers as very,
slightly,
extremely,
fairly,
rather
etc., e.g. huge
– very big – BIG – quite big – medium-sized – quite small –
SMALL – very small – tiny;

-they
do not deny one another, e.g. She
is not beautiful
≠She
is ugly;

-they
refer not to independent absolute qualities but to some implicit
norm, e.g. a
big mouse
vs a
small elephant.

Contradictory
antonyms
(complementary antonyms) are mutually opposed (exclusive) and deny
one another, e.g. male
– female;
married
– single;
asleep
– awake;
same
– different.
Their features:

-not
gradable;

-truly
represent oppositeness of meaning;

-cannot
be used in the comparative or superlative degree;

-the
denial of one member of such antonymic opposition always implies the
assertion of the other, e.g. not
dead – alive.

Conversive
antonyms
(conversives) are words which denote one and the same situation as
viewed from different points of view, with a reversal of the order of
participants and their roles, e.g. husband
– wife;
teacher
– pupil;
to
buy – to sell;
to
lend – to borrow;
to
precede – to follow.
These antonyms are mutually dependent on each other and one item
presupposes the other.

Vectorial
antonyms
(directional antonyms) are words denoting differently directed
actions, features, e.g. to
rise – to fall;
to
arrive – to depart;
to
marry – to divorce;
to
learn – to forget;
to
appear – to disappear.

Morphological
classification of antonyms by V. N. Komissarov (Dictionary
of English Antonyms):

root
antonyms
(absolute antonyms) are antonyms having different roots, e.g. clean
– dirty;
late
– early;
day
– night;

derivational
antonyms are
antonyms having the same root but different affixes, e.g. to
fasten – to unfasten;
flexible
– inflexible;
useful
– useless.

32. Grammatical and lexical valency. Grammatical and lexical context.

The
appearance of words in a certain syntagmatic succession with
particular logical, semantic, morphological and syntactic relations
is called collocability or valency.

Valency
is viewed as an aptness
or potential
of a word to have relations with other words in language. Valency can
be grammatical and lexical.

Collocability
is an
actual use
of words in particular word-groups in communication.

Lexical
valency
is the aptness of a word to appear in various collocations, i.e. in
combinations with other words.
The
lexical valency of correlated words in different languages is not
identical. Both the E.
plant
and
Ukr.
рослина
may
be combined with a number of words denoting the place where the
flowers are grown, e.g. garden
plants,
hot-house
flowers,
etc. (cf. Ukr.
садові
рослини,
оранжерейні
рослини,
etc.).
The English word, however, cannot enter into combination with the
word room
to
denote plants growing in the rooms (cf. pot
plants
—
кімнатні
рослини).

The
interrelation of lexical valency and polysemy:

-the
restrictions of lexical valency of words may manifest themselves in
the lexical meanings of the polysemantic members of word-groups, e.g.
heavy,
adj. in the meaning ‘rich and difficult to digest’ is combined
with the words food,
meals, supper,
etc., but one cannot say *heavy
cheese
or *heavy
sausage;

-different
meanings of a word may be described through its lexical valency, e.g.
the different meanings of heavy,
adj. may be described through the word-groups heavy
weight
/ book
/ table;
heavy
snow
/ storm
/
rain;
heavy
drinker
/ eater; heavy
sleep
/ disappointment
/
sorrow;
heavy
industry
/ tanks,
and so on.

From
this point of view word-groups may be regarded as the characteristic
minimal lexical sets that operate as distinguishing clues for each of
the multiple meanings of the word.

Grammatical
valency
is the aptness of a word to appear in specific grammatical (or rather
syntactic) structures. Its range is delimited by the part of speech
the word belongs to. This is not
to imply that grammatical valency of words belonging to the same part
of speech is necessarily identical, e.g.

-the
verbs suggest
and propose
can be followed by a noun (to
propose
or suggest
a plan /
a
resolution);
however, it is only propose
that can be followed by the infinitive of a verb (to
propose to do smth.);

-the
adjectives clever
and intelligent
are seen to possess different grammatical valency as clever
can be used in word-groups having the pattern: Adj. + Prep.
at +
Noun
(clever
at mathematics),
whereas intelligent
can never be found in exactly the same word-group pattern.

-The
individual meanings of a polysemantic word may be described through
its grammatical valency, e.g.

—
keen
+
N
as
in
keen sight ‘sharp’;
keen +
on + N
as
in
keen on sports
‘fond of’;
keen +
V(inf)
as
in
keen to know ‘eager’.

Lexical
context
determines lexically bound meaning; collocations with the
polysemantic words are of primary importance, e.g. a
dramatic change / increase / fall / improvement;
dramatic events / scenery;
dramatic
society;
a
dramatic gesture.

In
grammatical context
the grammatical (syntactic) structure of the context serves to
determine the meanings of a polysemantic word, e.g. 1) She
will make a good teacher. 2)
She will make some tea. 3)
She will make him obey.

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It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states; we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

The antonyms that are included in the excerpt are: young/old, rich/poor, Democrat/Republican, black/white, gay/straight, and disabled/not disabled.

A ← → B

• Adjective: easy/hard, wet/dry, hot/cold

• Nouns: hero/villain, freedom/slavery

• Verbs: answer/ask, discourage/encourage

• Adverbs: now/then, loudly/softly

• Propositions: on/off, above/below

Antonymy can also be found in idioms:

• Although they are twins, their personalities are night and day.

• Things don’t always go as you want. You have to learn to take the bad with the good.

Imagine you’re looking at a room thermometer. If the indicator is at the bottom of the thermometer, it tells you that the room is cold. If it is at the top, the room is hot. However, the thermometer can also indicate warm temperature when the indicator is in the middle.

Remember when you have to answer true or false questions on tests? This is an example of a complementary antonym. There are only two options, either true or false. There is no half-true or half-false.

Antonymy in Literature

In Literature, antonymy is often used as a device. Antonymy allows writers to juxtapose words to suggest irony or satire, or to make some words more prominent than others.¹ Antonymy is used in a number of ways in Literature:

Antithesis

This is a juxtaposition of two logically opposed elements.

To err is human to forgive is divine — Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1711).

The err and forgive are relational/converse antonyms. An error needs to exist first for it to be forgiven. The two contrasting words also juxtapose human and divine (coming from or connected with God or a god — Oxford English Learner). The sentence then means ‘it is normal for humans to make mistakes but to forgive is difficult’.

This is a contradictory statement that, after closer inspection, is found to be true.

We die and rise the same, — John Donne, The Canonization (1633)

This refers to meaning the opposite of what is said.

The apparent statement or event is undermined by another context to give a different meaning. Take Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias (1818):

In this poem, the antonymy/irony relationship is described by contrasting the past and present. It is reflected by the magnificent power-imagery used about Ozymandias (king of kings; ye Mighty and despair) which sometime in the future is turned into its opposite. All that is left of the grandeur described on the plinth is desolation (half sunk; stamped on these lifeless things).

It is therefore ironic that the statue, which was meant to show his everlasting power, is decapitated and no longer represents his great accomplishments. Instead, it is sunken in the desert, partially covered with sand.

Here are some side-by-side comparisons of the two terms using the same words:

¹Nünning, V., & Nünning, A, An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature, (2004).