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Antonymy
6.5 Antonymy
●●● Types
6.5.1 Types of Antonyms
Antonymy
is concerned with semantic opposition. Antonyms can be defined as words
which are opposite in meaning. There are a variety of 'oppositeness'.
They can be classified into three major groups.
1.
Complementaries
(contradictory
terms). These antonyms truly represent oppositeness of
meaning. They are so opposed to each other that they are mutually exclusive
and admit no possibility between them. The assertion of one is the denial
of the other. In other words, if one of the pair is true, then the other
cannot be. For example, an animal is either dead or alive,
and there exists no such a case where the animal is both dead and
alive (Though figuratively, one can say `In a technical sense he
was alive, but for practical purposes he was dead). The
same is applicable to present/absent, male/female, boy/girl, true/false,
same/different and so on. If something is imperfect, no matter
how slight the imperfection, the fact remains that the thing cannot be
perfect.
Another
distinctive feature of this category is that such antonyms are non-gradable.
They cannot be used in comparative degrees and do not allow adverbs of
intensity like very to qualify them. Take single/married
for example. If someone is single, s/he cannot be married.
It is incorrect to say *'S/He is very single, or more single, or extremely
single.'
2.
Contraries
(Contrary terms). Antonyms of this type are best viewed in terms
of a scale running between two poles or extremes. Antonyms such as rich/poor,
old/young, big/small represent two points at both ends of the pole.
The two opposites are gradable and one exists in comparison with the other.
We can say: A man is rich or very rich; one man is richer
than the other. Sue's house is big and Mary's house is small;
Sue's house is bigger than Mary's. This shows semantic relativity.
Sue's house is relatively big, compared with Mary's house. Mary's
house may be relatively big now than before, considering the fact
that there are fewer people living with her. This is obviously subjective
and depends on the speaker's attitude.
As we have already said, antonyms of this kind 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 as shown below:
More examples are:
old,
middle-aged, young,
open,
ajar, close,
rich,
well-to-do, poor,
hot,
warm, cool, cold,
beautiful,
good-looking, plain, ugly.
Apart
from adjectives, there are verbs like love-hate, and in between
we can add attachment, liking, indifference, antipathy,
etc.
3. Converses换位反义词 (Relative terms). This third type consists of
relational opposites such as parent/child, husband/wife, predecessor/successor,
employer/employee. The pairs of words indicate such a reciprocal social
relationship that one of them cannot be used without suggesting the other.
This type also includes reverse terms, which comprise adjectives and adverbs
signifying a quality or verbs and nouns signifying an act or state that
reverse the quality, action or state of the other. Take sell/buy, give/receive
for example. If A sells something to B, then B buys it from
A. If B buys something from A, then A sells it to B. Likewise,
if A gives a gift to B, then B receives it from A. If B
receives a gift from A, then A gives it to B. It is clear that
the two words of each pair are interdependent. The following are the features
of converses:
1)
relational:
parent-child
teacher-pupil
employer-employee
2)
spatial
above-below
here-there
right-left
3)
reciprocal
buy-sell
give-receive
borrow-lend
Some
of the relative terms look similar to contradictory terms: man/woman
vs husband/wife. Yet they are not the same. There is an absolute opposition
between contradictory terms. If the adult is not a man, then the adult
must be a woman. In the case of relative terms, the opposition is only
relational. What is applicable to contradictory terms may not be applicable
to relative terms. We can try testing husband/wife and parent/child
using the same rule. If the adult is not husband, the adult must
be wife. Or if the person is not parent, the person must
be child. Neither holds water.
Compare:
husband-wife
man-woman
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Characteristics
6.5.2 Some of the Characteristics of Antonyms
1.
Antonyms are classified on the basis of semantic opposition. Words denoting
nature, quality or state of things have many antonyms. This accounts for
the large number of antonyms among adjectives. Next comes verbs which
denote action or activity. Least antonyms are found among nouns which
are names of objects, domains, ideas, etc. Many words, though having synonyms,
do not find their semantic opposites, for example, read, hit, house,
book, power, magazine. Therefore, in a language, there are a great
many more synonyms than antonyms.
2.
A word which has more than one meaning can have more than one antonym.
For instance, when fast is used in the sense of 'firm' or 'secure',
then the antonym will be loose. When it means 'quick', the antonym
will be slow. And when fast means 'pleasure-seeking' or
'wild', the opposite will be sober. Dull also affords good illustration.
If the word is used with book or lecture in the sense of 'boring', the
antonym is no doubt interesting. In the sentence 'She became dull
and silent during the last part of the journey', the antonym is surely
lively. The opposite of dull in 'dull weather' can be sunny.
'Dull noise' and 'dull pain' have sharp and acute as their
opposite counterparts. In the sentence 'These factors affect both intelligent
and dull children', the antonym of dull is obviously intelligent.
3.
Antonyms differ in semantic inclusion. Pairs of antonyms are seen as marked
and unmarked terms respectively. In many pairs we find that one member
is more specific than the other and the meaning of the specific is included
in that of the general. Take man/woman and dog/bitch for
example. In each pair, the second term is more specific than the first.
Consider the sentence 'There has been no man on the island.' In
this sentence, man signifies 'human being', naturally including woman,
but not vice versa. The same is true of the other pair. We can say male/female
dog, but we cannot use these adjectives with bitch. Of these
pairs, woman and bitch are marked terms and their opposites
are the unmarked.
The
same is true of tall/short, old/young. In each pair, the second
term is more restricted in use than the first, e.g.
[36] How tall is his brother?
[37] How short is his brother?
Tall
covers the meaning of short.
Old
includes the meaning of young.
So
far as the meaning is concerned, sentence [36] includes the meaning of
[37]. The use of tall does not exclude the possibility of his brother
being very short. But sentence [37] is much more restricted in sense and
is considered semantically abnormal unless the speaker is particularly
interested in the 'shortness' of his brother or curious enough to find
out how short his brother is.
4.
Contrary terms are gradable antonyms, differing in degree of intensity,
so each has its own corresponding opposite. For example, hot and
warm are synonyms. Their difference lies in intensity. Correspondingly,
they each have a different antonym. The opposite of hot is cold
and that of warm is cool. We cannot regard cool as
the antonym of hot or cold as the antonym of warm.
It is the same with poor/rich, destitute/opulent. Their positions
cannot be exchanged.
Some words can have two different types of antonyms at the same time,
one being the negative and the other opposite, e.g.
happy
unhappy
sad
productive
unproductive
destructive
free
unfree
enslaved
●●● Use
6.5.3 The Use of Antonyms
Antonyms
have various practical uses and have long proved helpful and valuable
in defining the meanings of words. Take fresh for example. It appears
in a number of phrases of the same structure: fresh bread, fresh
air, fresh flowers, fresh look, yet it does not have the
same meaning in each case. The different shades of meaning are clearly
brought out by replacing them with antonyms: stale bread, stuffy
air, faded flowers, tired look. The defining feature of
antonyms is illustrated also in the following sentence:
[38] Unlike her gregarious
sister, Jane is a shy, unsociable person.
(gregarious-unsociable)
Antonyms are useful in enabling us to express economically the opposite
of a particular thought, often for the sake of contrast. Many idioms are
formed with antonyms. They look neat and pleasant, and sound rhythmic,
e.g.
rain
or shine now
or never
here
and there thick
and thin
weal
and woe high
and low
friend
or foe give
and take
fire
and water 水火
heat
and cold 寒署
right
and left
左右
old
and new
新老
heavy
and light 轻重
sooner
or later
迟早
dine
and wine 吃吃喝喝
old
and young 老老少少
Antonyms
are often used to form antithesis to achieve emphasis by putting contrasting
ideas together. Proverbs and sayings provide us with good examples:
Easy
come, easy go.
More
haste, less speed.
United
we stand, divided we fall.
Many
great writers are fond of using antonyms to serve their stylistic purpose.
Charles Dickens, for example, used antonyms to convey contrasting ideas.
The following is an excerpt from his novel A Tale of Two Cities:
It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was
the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was
the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of light, it was the season of darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the
other way in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received for
good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
This is a superb description of the time of the French Revolution, a time
full of contradictions, opposing ideas and views, and all possibilities.
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