ANTONYM

Definition

• Anti opposite• Onoma name

An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning as another word. It refers to a word that is completely different from another. They also are called opposites

Definition, Cruse (1986)

Narrow meaning :• The narrow sense restricts antonymy to binary

opposites (contradictories) such as same – different, single – married, dead – alive, pass – fail (a test), and polar opposites (contraries),typically exemplified by gradable adjective pairs like young – old, good – bad, wide – narrow.

• Board sense : understanding antonymy on paradigmatic axis and antonymy on the syntagmatic axis

The characterize “ideal” antonymy as follows:

Two lexical items are antonyms if :a. they correspond to one of the types of

antonymb. b. they are formally substitutable for each

other in a construction without resulting in ungrammaticality.

1. Antonymy on the paradigmatic axis

a. Auto-antonymyb. Antonymy for rhetorical purposes

Auto-antonymy

The phenomenon of one word having two opposite meanings

Ex :Sanction impose a penalty approval Resent feel oneself injured

appreciate, feel grateful

Antonymy for rhetorical purposes

In language use it happens not infrequently that words are used by speakers in a sense opposed to their conventional meaning, in order to achieve certain rhetorical effects. Typical examples are utterances like the following:• You are a fine friend. → ‘You are a bad friend’• We are in a nice mess. → ‘We are in a bad

situation’• guys, it’s so cold here! • That argument is a real winner.

Antonymy on the syntagmatic axis

• The inferential properties of coordinated binary opposites

• The inferential properties of coordinated polar opposites

The inferential properties of coordinated binary opposites

• By definition, binary antonyms display no intermediate states between the opposed concepts and, consequently, there can be no inference to such intermediate states.

Ex :1. Single – married2. Dead – alive3. . . . . .

The inferential properties of coordinated polar opposites

The inference conveyed by the X and Y alike construction—where X and Y denote concepts that are in polar opposition to each otherEx :There was something for all, young and old alike.Both pretty and plain can join the party in the palace This utterance will, in most contexts, convey a generalized implicature to the effect that the property ‘something for all’ applies not only to young and old persons, but also to persons of all ages.