Antonyms in modern Russian language

Antonyms

General characteristics

Antonyms are words with opposite lexical meanings that must belong to the same part of speech. (semantic difference). ( concrete - abstract, abstract).

Individual meanings of polysemantic words can enter into antonymic relationships. ( day"part of the day" - night, day “day, date” has no antonyms. Different meanings of the same word can have different antonyms. Nr, close with the meaning “located at a short distance” - distant, close “blood related” - alien, close “similar” - different. Polysemous words may have one antonym that has several meanings. Nr, upper with the meaning “located at the top”, “close to the upper reaches of the river” - lower (upper step - lower, upper flow - lower).

Any words can be contrasted in speech:

- close in meaning (scientists many , smart few…)

Words connected in the minds of speakers association for the contiguity of concepts: brother and sister, sun and moon.

Stylistic potential of antonyms

Anton's main function. - an expression of opposites. This feature can be used for various stylistic purposes:

to indicate the limit of manifestation of a quality, property, relationship, action: “a person needs little to searched and found so that we have them to begin with Friend one and enemy one"

to actualize a statement or enhance an image, impression, etc.: “it looked like a clear evening: neither day nor night, neither light nor darkness»

to express an assessment of the opposite properties of objects, actions, etc.: “..one old man, completely minor, was worthy of my novel than all these great people..»

Built on the sharp opposition of antonyms antithesis. It can be simple (single term): the powerful always have the powerless to blame and complex : we both hate and we don’t love. Without sacrificing anything, neither anger nor love. The antithesis can be seen in the titles of works of art and the headlines of newspaper articles.

Antonymy is at the core oxymoron – a stylistic device consisting of creating a new concept by combining words with contrasting meanings: expensive cheapness and at the core pun:where is the beginning of the end.

Using one of the antonyms when another should have been used: when you're smart, you're delirious. Using a word in its opposite meaning - antiphrasis.

Antonyms can be expressed when any member of a is missing from the text. couples : face dark, but clean; His height is average or less...

Mistakes when using antonyms

Using Anton. in speech must be motivated. A combination of mutually exclusive features of an item should be avoided: the road is straight, although winding. Antonymous pairs must be composed logically. It is impossible to compare incompatible concepts.

Errors in constructing an antithesis: this book is about love and joy, hatred, suffering and grief(violation of the enumeration sequence).

Use of Anton. justified if it truly reflects the dialectical unity of the surrounding life. Sometimes Anton. do not reflect the real opposition and are perceived as a stencil: big troubles for small businesses.

The use of an unfortunate oxymoron: “hot permafrost” is the title of an article about coal mining in the Arctic. Unmotivated oxymoron manifests itself as a result of combinations of incompatible concepts : if there is a lack of materials.

Sometimes involuntary pun- the reason for the inappropriate comical statement, cat. arises as a result of the antonymy of polysemantic words, unnoticed by the author: the father’s old briefcase was still new.

Inappropriate antiphrases, those. using its antonym instead of the desired word can distort the meaning of the statement: the difficulty was knowing the language(must be in ignorance).

Errors in constructing antonymic pairs : they live actively, they are not spies on life(spies are people who secretly watch someone, it is necessary - contemplatives, idle observers).

The regularity of the antononic relations of words does not allow their use outside of opposition. The collision of antonyms in speech is the reason for the pun: A gap is a bottleneck commonly found in construction.

Typology of antonyms

Antonyms are heterogeneous in their structure. Some are different roots (actually lexical) : black - white, life - death.

Other single-root (lexicogrammatical) : calm - restless. In single-rooted Anton. the opposite meaning is due to the addition of semantically different prefixes, cat. can enter into antonymic relationships with each other. In this case, lexical antonymy is a consequence word formation processes. single-root antonyms are found among all lexico-grammatical categories of words. Antonym verbs are especially active, because they are distinguished by the richness of prefix formations in-, for-, from-, under-, etc. single-root antonyms-adjectives and antonyms-nouns are often formed with the help of foreign language word-forming elements: a-, de-, anti, micro-, dis-, etc. Single-rooted a.:

antonyms-enantiosemes(the meaning of the opposite is expressed by the same word). Such an antonymy intraword. The semantic possibilities of such an antonym are realized using context (lexically) or special constructions (syntactically): make a reservation ( accidentally ) "to make a mistake" make a reservation(intentionally) “to make a reservation.”

antonyms-euphemisms- words that express the semantics of the opposite in a restrained, gentle manner. Formed using the prefix not-.

Converse antonyms – mixed-root ant., words expressing the opposite in both the original and modified statements in reverse order: Peter comes to Sergei – Sergei leaves from Peter.

Antonym dictionaries

For a long time there were no special dictionaries of antonyms. In 1971 2 dictionaries were published. In "Dictionary a. Russian Yaz.” L. Vvedenskaya explained 862 antonymous pairs. All interpretations are provided with numerous examples from works (fiction, scientific, newspaper and journalistic). The dictionary includes a theoretical section that covers issues related to lexical antonymy.

N. Kolesnikov’s dictionary explains more than 1,300 antonym words and various contrasts. It does not sufficiently cover single-root antonyms. Its dictionary includes many terms that exist in pairs: vocalism-consonantism.

In "Dictionary a. rus. Yaz.” M. Lvova, L. Novikova interpretation of the meanings of antonymic pairs is given through the presentation of phrases with these words and examples in the texts. The special sections of the dictionary indicate the main ways of forming single-root antons. , word-forming elements of an antonymic nature are listed. In the "School Dictionary a." M Lvov explains the most common antonyms. When determining meanings, the polysemy of words is taken into account, synonymous pairs are given, and style notes are given.

Antonyms are words of the same part of speech, different in sound and spelling, having directly opposite lexical meanings, for example: “truth” - “lie”, “kind” - “evil”, “speak” - “be silent”.

Types of antonyms:

1. Multi-rooted. This type of antonyms is the most representative. Opposite meanings belong to these words as a whole (for example, high - low, heat - cold, catch up - lag behind, etc.). Some prepositions are also contrasted as antonyms (for example, for and before (behind the closet - in front of the closet), in and from (into the room - from the room).

2. Single-rooted. For them, the meaning of the opposite is expressed not by the root parts of words, but by affixal morphemes. Antonymy arises from the opposition of prefixes (for example, pri- and u- (come - go), v- and s- (get in - get off), or as a result of the use of negative prefixes that give the word the opposite meaning (for example, literate - illiterate, tasty - tasteless, military - anti-war, revolution - counter-revolution, etc.).

3. Contextual (or contextual) antonyms are words that are not contrasted in meaning in the language and are antonyms only in the text: Mind and heart - ice and fire - these are the main things that distinguished this hero.

4. Enantiosemy is the opposite meaning of the same word. Sometimes it is not individual words that can be antonymous, but different meanings of one word (for example, the word priceless, meaning: 1. having a very high price (priceless treasures). 2. not having any price (bought for next to nothing, i.e. very cheap) . The word blessed, meaning: 1. extremely happy (blessed state). 2. stupid (earlier meaning holy fool).

5. Proportional (having opposite actions: rise - fall, get fat - lose weight) and disproportionate (a certain action is opposed to inaction: leave - stay, light up - put out).

6. Linguistic (exist in the language system: high - low, right - left) and speech (formed in speech patterns: priceless - penny worth, beauty - swamp kikimara);

Functions of antonyms:

1. The main stylistic function of antonyms is a lexical means for constructing an antithesis. P: We both hate and we love by chance.

2. The opposite of antithesis is the use of antonyms with negation. It is used to emphasize the lack of a clearly defined quality in the item being described. P: She wasn’t pretty, she wasn’t ugly

3. Antonymy is the basis of an oxymoron (from the Greek oxymoron ‘witty-stupid’) - a stylistic figure that creates a new concept by combining words with contrasting meanings. P: The shadow of uncreated creatures sways in sleep. Like lotanium blades on an enamel wall (Bryusov).

4. Antonyms are used to emphasize the completeness of coverage of what is depicted - stringing together antonymic pairs. P: In the world there is good and evil, lies and truth, grief and joy.

Anaphrasis is the use of one of the antonyms, while another should be used: where, smart one, are you wandering from, head? (appeal to the donkey). Antonymous pairs should be composed logically.

Homonymy, types of homonyms. Paronyms. Paronomasia. Functions of homonyms and paronyms in speech.

Homonyms- these are words of the same part of speech, identical in sound and spelling, but different in lexical meaning, for example: boron - “a pine forest growing in a dry, elevated place” and boron - “a steel drill used in dentistry.”

Types of homonyms.

There are full and partial homonyms. Complete homonyms belong to the same part of speech and coincide in all forms, for example: key (from the apartment) and key (spring). And partial homonyms are consonant words, one of which entirely coincides with only part of the forms of another word, for example: tact (in the meaning of “play the last measure”) and tact (in the meaning of “rules of decency”). The word with the second meaning does not have a plural form.

Paronyms(from the Greek para “near, nearby” + onyma “name”) - words that are similar in sound, similar in pronunciation, lexico-grammatical affiliation and related roots, but have different meanings. Paronyms in most cases refer to one part of speech. For example: dress and put on, subscriber and subscription, wiser and wiser. Sometimes paronyms are also called false brothers.

The phenomenon of paronomasia (from the gr. para - near, onomazo - I call) lies in the sound similarity of words that have different morphological roots (cf.: bunks - sleds, pilot - boatswain, clarinet - cornet, injection - infection). As with paronymy, lexical pairs in paronomasia belong to the same part of speech and perform similar syntactic functions in a sentence. Such words may have the same prefixes, suffixes, endings, but their roots are always different. Apart from random phonetic similarity, the words in such lexical pairs have nothing in common; their subject-semantic relevance is completely different.

Paronomasia, unlike paronymy, is not a natural and regular phenomenon. And although the language has many phonetically similar words, comparing them as lexical pairs is the result of individual perception: one will see paronomasia in the pair circulation - type, another - in circulation - mirage, the third - in circulation - stained glass. However, paronymy and paronomasia are close in terms of the use of similar-sounding words in speech.

The use of homonyms and paronyms in speech

(Homonyms). Like polysemantic words, homonyms are used in mutually exclusive strong positions. This makes it possible to realize the main semantic function of homonyms - to differentiate words that are different in meaning and have the same sound envelope. Since these words are not connected in meaning and are not motivated, the power of their mutual exclusion in the text is much greater than. at the meanings (LSV) of a polysemantic word.

The contact use of homonyms in the text or even their “overlay”, complete “fusion” in one form realizes certain stylistic functions, being a means of creating a pun, a figurative collision of different meanings, emphasized expression: To take a wife without a fortune - I am able, but to go into debt I am not able to do her rags (P.); By paying your debt, you thereby fulfill it (Kozma Prutkov). The expressiveness of the slogan “Peace to the World” is emphasized by the use of homonyms.

(Paronyms)

Paronyms can be used in speech as a means of expression.

Often, authors put paronyms side by side to show their semantic differences despite their apparent similarity: Any person, since he lives in society, is a humanitarian in the sense that he explains, corrects, evaluates his own and others’ practical and theoretical behavior in humanitarian categories (not necessarily unfortunately, humane) thinking. (V. Ilyin, A. Razumov); This is how it happens when trust is confused with gullibility. (Ya. Dymsky).

The collision of paronyms can be used to highlight these words, which enhances the meanings they express: Wrote a businesslike and practical letter to Valerian (L. Tolstoy).

So, the skillful use of paronyms helps to correctly and accurately express thoughts and reveals the great potential of the Russian language in conveying subtle shades of meaning.

Antonyms “are at the extreme points of the lexical paradigm,” but between them in the language there may be words that reflect the specified feature to varying degrees, i.e., its decrease or increase. For example: rich - wealthy - poor - poor - beggar; harmful - harmless - useless - useful. This opposition suggests a possible degree of strengthening of a characteristic, quality, action, or gradation (Latin gradatio - gradual increase). Semantic gradation (graduality), therefore, is characteristic only of those antonyms whose semantic structure contains an indication of the degree of quality: young - old, big - small, small - large, etc. Other antonymic pairs lack the sign of graduality: top - bottom, day - night, life - death, man - woman.

Antonyms that have the attribute of gradualism can be interchanged in speech to give the statement a polite form; so, it is better to say thin than skinny; older than old. Words used to eliminate the harshness or rudeness of a phrase are called euphemisms (gr. eu - good + phemi - I say). On this basis, they sometimes talk about antonyms-euphemisms, which express the meaning of the opposite in a softened form. (Fomina, 2000, p. 140)

In the lexical system of the language, one can also distinguish antonyms-conversives (Latin conversio - change). These are words that express the relation of opposition in the original (direct) and modified (inverse) statement: Alexander gave the book to Dmitry. - Dmitry took the book from Alexander; The professor takes the test from the trainee. - The trainee gives the test to the professor. There is also intra-word antonymy in the language - antonymy of the meanings of polysemantic words, or enantiosemy (Greek enantios - opposite + sema - sign). This phenomenon is observed in polysemous words that develop mutually exclusive meanings. For example, the verb to depart can mean “to return to normal, to feel better,” but it can also mean “to die, to say goodbye to life.” Enantiosemy becomes the reason for the ambiguity of such statements, for example: The editor looked through these lines; I listened to the divertissement; The speaker made a slip of the tongue.

The formal expression here is not root or affixal morphemes, but the very contexts of use of the word in its polar meanings: to lend someone money “to lend” - to borrow money from someone “to borrow” (syntactic difference in contexts), to make a special reservation (in the preface to the book) “make a slip” - accidentally make a mistake “make a mistake” (lexical difference in contexts). The word weather is known in the language fiction in two opposite meanings (“good weather” and “bad weather” bad weather): “Rain and cold - no weather! There’s nowhere to go - at least leave!” (I.S. Nikitin. Country life) and “I told you,” he exclaimed, “that the weather will be bad today; We must hurry, otherwise, perhaps, she will catch us on Krestovaya” (M. Yu. Lermontov. Bela). Wed. There are also cases of speech enantiosemy, when a word, thanks to expressive ironic intonation, acquires the exact opposite meaning: Well, pure! (about a dirty suit, a person’s appearance). Oh, and he’s smart! (about a stupid, narrow-minded person).

Vector antonyms express the opposite direction of actions, signs and properties. This group of antonyms is represented by verbs, verbal nouns, adverbs, adjectives: guess - guess, get in - get off. Complementary antonyms denote logically incompatible concepts between which the existence of a middle term is impossible (cf.: living - dead, single - married, human - non-human, etc.), and conversions are associated with the name of mutually reversible processes, phenomena (cf.: sell - buy, give - take, etc.). It should be noted that complementary antonyms denote phenomena and states that, from a logical point of view, are assessed by binary characteristics such as “yes” or “no”, “possible” or “impossible”; with the help of the lexical means of language, the gradation of these logically non-gradable phenomena is fixed (cf. .: logically only the state “alive” or “dead” is possible, but in language this state can also be graded with the words half-dead, barely alive, barely alive, almost died, visited the next world, etc.). (Novikov L. A., 1993)

According to their structure, antonyms are divided into multi-rooted (day - night) and single-rooted (come - go, revolution - counter-revolution). The first form a group of actual lexical antonyms, the second - lexico-grammatical. In single-root antonyms, the opposite meaning is caused by various prefixes, which are also capable of entering into antonymic relationships; Wed: put in - put out, put on - set aside, close - open. Consequently, the opposition of such words is due to word formation. However, it should be borne in mind that the addition of the prefixes not-, bez- to qualitative adjectives and adverbs most often gives them the meaning of only a weakened opposite (young - not young), so that the contrast of their meaning in comparison with non-prefixed antonyms turns out to be “muted” (mature - this does not mean “old” yet). Therefore, not all prefix formations can be classified as antonyms in the strict sense of the term, but only those that are extreme members of the antonymic paradigm: successful - unsuccessful, strong - powerless.

Antonyms, as already mentioned, usually form a pairwise correlation in a language. However, this does not mean that a particular word can have one antonym.

Antonymic relations make it possible to express the opposition of concepts in an “unclosed”, polynomial series, cf.: concrete - abstract, abstract; cheerful - sad, sorrowful, dull, boring. (Novikov, 1993)

In addition, each member of an antonymic pair or antonymic series can have its own synonyms that do not intersect in antonymy. Then a certain system is formed in which synonymous units are located vertically, and antonymous units are located horizontally. For example:

Smart - stupid

To be sad - to be happy

Intelligent - stupid

Sad - have fun

Wise - Brainless

To yearn - to rejoice

Big-headed - headless

Intelligent - stupid

Such a correlation of synonymous and antonymic relations reflects the systemic connections of words in the lexicon. Systematicity is also indicated by the relationship between polysemy and antonymy of lexical units.

Antonyms according to the type of concepts expressed:

§ contradictory correlates - such opposites that mutually complement each other to the whole, without transitional links; they are in a relation of private opposition. Examples: bad - good, lie - truth, living - dead.
§ contrasting correlates - antonyms expressing polar opposites within one essence in the presence of transitional links - internal gradation; they are in a relation of gradual opposition. Examples: black (gray) white, old (elderly - middle-aged) young, large (medium) small.
§ vector correlates - antonyms expressing different directions of actions, signs, social phenomena, etc. Examples: enter - exit, descend - rise, light - extinguish, revolution - counter-revolution.
§ conversions - words that describe the same situation from the point of view of different participants. Examples: buy - sell, husband - wife, teach - study, lose - win, lose - find.
§ enantiosemy - the presence of opposite meanings in the structure of a word. Examples: to lend someone money - to borrow money from someone, to pass around tea - to treat and not to treat.
§ pragmatic - words that are regularly contrasted in the practice of their use, in contexts (pragmatics - “action”). Examples: soul - body, mind - heart, earth - sky.

From the point of view of language and speech, antonyms are divided into:

§ linguistic (usual) - antonyms that exist in the language system (rich - poor);
§ speech (occasional) - antonyms that arise in a certain context (to check the presence of this type, you need to reduce them to a language pair) - (gold - half copper, that is, expensive - cheap). They are often found in proverbs.

In terms of action, antonyms are:

§ proportionate - action and reaction (get up - go to bed, get rich - get poor);
§ disproportionate - action and lack of action (in the broad sense) (light - extinguish, think - change your mind).

Lexical units of the vocabulary of a language turn out to be closely related not only on the basis of their associative connection by similarity or contiguity as lexical-semantic variants of a polysemantic word. Antonymy is based on association by contrast, reflecting significant differences in objects, phenomena, actions, qualities and characteristics that are homogeneous in nature (Fomina, 2000). The semantic classification of antonyms is based on the type of opposition they express. Depending on the nature of the designated opposite, antonyms are combined into corresponding classes. Here are the main ones.

1. Antonyms expressing qualitative opposition. Such words, widely represented in the language, realize the opposite and reveal gradual (stepped) oppositions, giving an idea of a gradual change in quality (property, sign): easy (simple, trifling) - not difficult - medium difficulty - not easy - difficult (complex); young (youthful, youthful) - middle-aged - elderly - old (elderly, decrepit); talented (brilliant) - gifted (outstanding) - average abilities - mediocre (ordinary) - mediocre; smart - capable - intelligent (savvy, intelligent) - intelligent - average abilities - stupid - limited (close-minded) - stupid - stupid.

Antonymous words expressing extreme manifestations of quality exhibit symmetrical relationships and are spaced from each other in the paradigm at the same semantic distance from the reference point:

In this regard, adjectives with the prefix non-, which do not express actual antonymy, require special attention. Logically, they are based on the negation of the original concept: “difficult” - “not difficult”, “easy” - “not easy”. Due to the fact that the concept “not difficult” occupies the entire semantic space in this field, with the exception of the “difficult” zone, the corresponding adjective “not difficult” shifts to the side and approaches the other extreme member of the paradigm - the word easy (expressing the corresponding concept “easy”). On the contrary, the adjective not easy for the same reasons gravitates towards the lexical unit difficult:

Wed: This is not an easy, difficult task. Her answer was unwise, even stupid. Gradual opposition can be represented in just three words: new - worn - old (suit), literate - illiterate - illiterate, loud - quiet - quiet. Finally, in a whole series of gradual oppositions, the middle term does not have a special expression, but is always implied as some starting point of the opposite: rude - (0) - gentle (voice), advanced - (0) - backward, glory - (0) - shame and etc. The intermediate term in such oppositions can be expressed descriptively, for example: not very rude; neither advanced nor backward, etc. (Shansky N.M., 1972)

From the above examples it is clear that the prefix not - expresses not only a simple negation (young - not young, tall - short; cf. old, short), but also the opposite: successful - unsuccessful, tasty - tasteless, etc. The same thing The prefix without- (bes-) also applies: useful - useless (ultimate negation: harmful), on the one hand, and glorious - inglorious “shameful” - on the other. Qualitative adjectives with the prefixes not-, bez- (bess-) are antonyms to the original words if they represent extreme, extreme members of the antonymic paradigm: profitable - unprofitable, literate - illiterate, illiterate, convincing - unconvincing, strong - powerless , meaningful - meaningless, etc. (intermediate members in such paradigms can be adjectives such as unprofitable, uneducated, unsubstantial).

This class of words, with a certain convention, includes designations of basic spatial and temporal coordinates that reveal stepwise oppositions, although they are not qualitative words: upper - middle - lower (top - middle - bottom), left - middle (central) - right, past - present - future, the day before yesterday - yesterday - today - tomorrow - the day after tomorrow; Wed: north - south, east - west; summer - winter, spring - autumn in closed cycles: east, south, west, north; spring, summer, autumn, winter, etc.

Concluding the consideration of the gradual antonymy of qualitative words, it is necessary to emphasize that such antonyms form entire semantic microfields in the lexical system in which this or that assessment is realized, for example, aesthetic: beautiful - charming - beautiful - wonderful - good - (usual) - mediocre - unsightly - bad - nasty - ugly, etc. Such semantic fields can be likened magnetic field in the sense that not only the poles have the ability to polarize, but also any part of this field that carries elements of opposite principles. This is a continuum (continuous sequence), within which this or that quality (property) changes gradually, without sharp boundaries. Graduality, continuity of quality, its non-discreteness are in conflict with the nature of the signs denoting various gradations of quality. Linguistic signs are discrete, separate. Trying to “cover” the semantic field, they are attracted to each other; while maintaining their independence, on the contrary, they repel each other. The reason for the “tension” of the field and the limit of their repulsion are the symmetrical poles - the designations of this quality. (Shansky N.M., 1972)

2. Antonyms expressing complementarity (complementarity). This class of antonyms includes relatively few large number words that exhibit complementary opposition. The scale of oppositions is represented here by only two opposite members (not counting, of course, their synonyms), complementing each other to the whole. The negation of one of these antonyms gives the meaning of the other, because there is nothing in between: not + healthy means “sick”.

This type of semantic relationship is found in such oppositions as true - false, wet - dry, inside - outside, war - peace, voluntary - forced, married - single, alive - dead, life - death, busy - free, healthy - sick, sighted - blind, true - false, finite - infinite, logical - illogical, possible - impossible, intentionally - accidentally, identical - different, permanent - temporary, observe - violate, etc. (cf. also derivatives from the above words: fidelity - infidelity , truth - falsity, finitude - infinity, permanently - temporarily, compliance - violation, etc.). The expression of complementarity presupposes the classifying, delimiting, disjunctive nature of the semantics of antonyms: sick - healthy, truth (truth) - lie (false), true - false. In everyday expressions like He is not entirely healthy, This is not entirely true, we are dealing with a euphemistic, “softened” use of words, the true meaning of which is “sick”, “wrong”. (Shansky N.M., 1972)

3. Antonyms expressing the opposite direction of actions, properties and characteristics. This is a vector opposition of antonyms, based on logically opposite concepts.

Antonyms, denoting the opposite direction of lexical units, remained for a long time outside of linguistic research. All the attention of lexicologists was focused on the study of the opposite of qualitative words. The definitions of antonymy themselves testified to this: “Antonyms occur only in words that contain in their meaning an indication of quality, and are necessarily words of different roots.” This understanding of antonymy led to an unreasonable narrowing of the object. Vector mutually opposite orientation of words is a widespread phenomenon in vocabulary, covering a large number of linguistic units. Hegel also noted, along with the opposition, virtue and vice, good and evil, the opposition of multidirectional actions, movements, for example, movement, the path to the east - movement, the path to the west; a certain point of view - “an attitude existing outside them - makes one of these directions positive and the other negative.” (Shansky N.M., 1972).

In addition to verbs, vector opposition is represented by nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions: to (o)go - to come, to get light - to get dark, to get warm - to get colder; enter - leave, approach - move away, arrive - fly away; tie - untie, slow down - speed up, disappear - appear, dress - undress, increase - decrease; turn pale - blush, get sick - get better, get fat - lose weight; to fall in love - to fall out of love, to forget - to remember, to allow - to prohibit; get rich - get poor, get married - get divorced, blame - defend, scold - praise, produce - consume; sunrise - sunset, illness - recovery, assembly - disassembly, increase - decrease, supporter - opponent, fascist - anti-fascist, revolution - counter-revolution; offensive - defensive, state - anti-state, legal - illegal; up - down, forward - back, there - from there, in - from, to - from, on - from, etc.

Another semantic systematization of antonyms is also possible - their distribution according to main topics (fields). From this point of view, we can distinguish large classes of opposite words that denote natural phenomena (freeze - thaw), physical qualities and properties of objects (light - heavy), quantity, order, sequence of their arrangement (many - few, first - last), movement , moving, changing position in space (approaching - moving away), various kinds of specific actions (putting on - taking off), appearance and physical qualities of a person (broad-shouldered - narrow-shouldered), changes in physical condition (freeze - warm up), emotions, feelings, will, intelligence (rejoice - be upset, smart - stupid), behavior and character of a person (closed - sociable), phenomena of social order ( collective - individual), ethical and aesthetic assessment (good - evil, charming - disgusting) and many others. etc.

The functional-derivative classification of antonyms is of great interest. Unlike word-formation, this systematization is based on “deep” functional connections of opposite words and does not rely on their formal similarity. Such a classification, the development of which is just beginning, will make it possible to more fully present the system of antonymy, drawing attention to such connections of opposite words that usually go unnoticed. (Shansky, 1972).

There is sufficient reason to believe that a wide variety of antonymic relations can be reduced to a limited number of initial oppositions, such as big - small (small), good - bad, beginning - end, mutual opposition and mutual complement of opposites and some others. Thus, the following pairs of antonyms (and these are just separate illustrations!) are united by the fact that they are different linguistic expressions of the same function “big/small” (big/small), applied to different argument words.

In each combination, the “big/small” function is specified depending on a particular word-argument: (along the length) (wire) = long - short, (along the length from bottom to top) (mast) = high - low, (along along the length from top to bottom) (well) = deep - shallow, (across the length) (passage) = wide - narrow, (across the cross-section in the vertical direction or from the outside - in/from the inside - out) (layer) = thick - thin , (by volume) (nut) = large - small, (by distance) (distance) = far - close, (by length in time) (term) = long - short, (by weight) (weight) = heavy - light , (by temperature) (frost) = strong - weak; such specification becomes especially necessary in the following examples: (by saturation with something) (soup) = thick - liquid, (by speed) (running) = fast - slow, (by sound strength) (voice) = loud - quiet, ( by price) (product) = expensive - cheap, (by property, wealth) (person) = rich - poor, etc.

In the same way, such different opposites as birth - death, opening - closing, start - finish, morning - evening, source - mouth, overture - finale, etc. can be combined into one series. as various designations of the beginning and end of life, a conference, a race, a day, a river, a piece of music, etc.

antonym vocabulary stylistic semantic

Antonymy is usually characterized as a lexical phenomenon. In some works, all antonymy is reduced to lexical antonyms. Yes, in the Bolshoi Encyclopedic Dictionary It is noted that antonyms exist only for words that contain an indication of quality in their meaning, and are necessarily words of different roots: quiet - noisy, pleasant - disgusting, therefore noisy - silent, pleasant - unpleasant - are not antonyms. “Some linguists,” wrote L. Novikov, “consider words of different roots with opposite meanings to be antonyms. However, such a definition is too rigid and does not take into account all the possibilities of expressing the opposite in language.” (42, p. 83) L.A. Bulakhovsky also considers only words with different roots to be antonyms. A.A. Reformatsky, although he recognizes root antonyms, believes that “different-root antonyms are more interesting for lexicology.” (46, p. 95) N.M. Shansky is inclined to consider both single-root and different-root words as antonyms. L.A. Novikov writes: “... language practice itself contradicts the narrow understanding of antonymy, according to which it is considered as a property of only qualitative or only words of different roots.” (42, p. 4).

The same point of view is shared by D.N. Shmelev, V.F. Ivanova, V.A. Ivanova and a number of other scientists. Revealing common, essential features in the semantics of words expressing opposite meanings, they note three main types of opposition: contrarian, complementary, vector.

The most characteristic and widespread is the contrarian opposite. It is characterized by the fact that between its extreme members there is an intermediate, middle member, for example: beauty - (charm, enchantment) - not beauty, love - (attachment, devotion) - dislike. Contrary “underlies the antonymy of words containing an indication of quality.” (42, p. 260). This type of opposition shows gradualism in the expression of a generic characteristic.

The members of complementary opposition (or complementarity, English Complementarity) are limiting, there is no intermediate member between them: pleasure - displeasure, compliance - inconsistency, trust - distrust, prudence - imprudence.

Vector opposition is based on the semantics of antonyms, expressing the multidirectionality of actions, movements, signs: meet - disperse, sunrise - sunset, start - finish (42, pp. 245-246). However, despite all the variety of manifestations of the opposite, in e? the basis lies single type relations - a relation of extreme negation of what is expressed by one of the antonyms. For example, good - bad, i.e. extremely bad.

T.N. Erina notes: “The meanings of words that enter into antonymous relationships are contrasted only according to one essential feature: positive or negative.” (21, p. 94) For example:

a) disposition - disposition are opposed to each other, on the basis of a friendly / unfriendly attitude towards someone or something;
b) hunting - reluctance - on the basis of desire/unwillingness to do something.

A mandatory feature of antonyms is regular reproducibility in speech.

M. Fomina notes: “The contrast is called correlative because only words that are in the same lexical and grammatical (based on their attribution to the same part of speech) paradigm, denoting logically compatible concepts, enter into such relationships. The basis for their comparison is the same common and essential feature for them.” (51, p. 139) Thus, semantically (and, naturally, logically) correlative are words that characterize various kinds of qualitative features, for example: beauty, color, taste, etc. The obligatory feature of logical-semantic correlativeness of concepts when determining the antonymity of words naming These concepts were first clearly formulated by N.M. Shansky. However, L. Bulakhovsky also pointed out the simultaneous presence of similarities in some respect between such words.

The correlation of the most general signs of opposition is often supplemented by private, specific, semantically no less significant signs. This is observed in the antonymization of polysemantic words that differ in the specifics of their syntagmatic relationships. For example, the contrast between the words heavy (package) and light (package) is based on the essential attribute of weight; in combination with the words man, animal, head, hand, etc. (heavy hand - light hand) sign is significant physical properties; The antonymy of the combinations heavy (bulky) roof - light (non-bulky) roof is based on the sign of proportionality, etc.

Scientists notice that in the case when incompatible concepts enter into contrasting relationships, the words naming them are not antonyms. So, in the sentence: In front of us there was a low but long fence, the highlighted words are not antonyms, since the concepts of “height” and “length” characterize an object from different sides, which are not semantically correlated with each other. In this case, we are dealing with a logical opposition (which creates the so-called antonymic situation), and not with lexical antonymy itself.

Such relationships are called opposite due to the fact that, according to the laws of logic, they mutually exclude each other. For example, an object cannot simultaneously be deep and shallow, heavy and light, etc., i.e. words with opposite meanings are at the extreme points of the lexical paradigm. Between them, a language often contains lexical units that have a certain average, semantically neutral meaning.

The antonymity of words does not depend on their grammatical form or formative components. Consequently, antonymity between words of different roots arises due to the opposite meanings of their main meaning-forming components, for example: good - bad, warm - cold, etc.

“Antonymity is also preserved in word-formation chains, the members of which are formed according to the same models,” writes E. Miller. (39, p. 88) Thus, antonyms are not only the adjectives warm - cold, but also words of different roots related to other parts of speech - the nouns warm - cold, the adverbs warm - cold. Such oppositions consistently appear in speech. As the researcher notes, if words of one part of speech are opposed, then this antonymy is called one-part antonymy. “It is a typical, most common means of expressing in language opposite phenomena, processes, objects of objective reality,” writes E. Miller. (39, p. 88).

At the same time, each of the first components of the oppositions warm - cold, warm (adv.) - cold, warm (noun) - cold is antonymous to all the second components of these oppositions, because these components are opposite in the lexical meaning of the roots, i.e. the adjective warm is antonymous not only to the adjective cold, but also to the noun cold; etc.

Interparticular antonymy is also systematically used in speech. For example: it was warm, although in August the nights usually already exuded cold.

Or: a bare idea is not viable. She must appear in clothes made of words. Here, antonymous to the adjective naked, the noun with the preposition dressed does not denote an object, but a sign of the object - just like the adjective dressed.

Finally, “mixed” oppositions of antonyms are also possible, i.e. cases when a word is an antonym and simultaneously opposes both a word of the same part of speech and a word belonging to another part of speech. For example: the room was warm... He felt a blissful feeling of warmth. It was cold in the car. It was cold on Ladoga. It was cold in the workshops. And only now Zvyagintsev felt that he was warming up.

E. Miller classifies some types of interparticular antonyms:

1. verb - noun;
2. verb - adjective;
3. noun - adjective.

“The identified types of oppositions in interparticular antonymy give reason to assume that any parts of speech can be antonymous if the words are formed from roots with opposite meanings,” writes E. Miller. (39, p. 89) Consequently, an adjective can be antonymous with an adverb, an adverb with a verb, an adverb with a noun, etc.

This phenomenon was noted by L. Bulakhovsky. The existence of interparticular antonymy not only in speech, but also in the language system is supported by the results of the analysis of antonymous oppositions formed through derivation. “Different root antonyms are connected by a double connection: semantic relations in opposition (connections between antonyms) and formal semantic relations with their series of derivatives (word-formation links). If we arrange two word-formation paradigms according to their antonymic relationships, it turns out that the horizontal connections are semantic connections in opposition, the vertical connections are formally the semantic dependence of word-formation connections.

Word-formation and oppositional connections are disconnected here and go in different directions.” (10, p. 118)

Of course, interparticular antonymy is not meant here, but word-formation types of lexical units are established within the antonymic nests and thereby objectively prepares the basis for identifying and justifying the reality of interparticular antonymy.

Regarding antonyms, there are more or less stable classifications accepted by most scientists. According to the structure, M. Fomina identifies the following types of antonyms: multi-rooted, single-rooted. The researcher calls multi-rooted ones actually lexical. Single-root ones are also called grammatical or lexico-grammatical. In single-root antonyms, the opposite meaning is due to the addition of semantically different prefixes, which, like words, can enter into antonymic relationships. In this case we are talking about word-formation antonyms. They were examined in more detail by A.N. Tikhonov, S.M. Saidova. Scientists note: “Word-forming antonyms are antonyms that arose as a result of derivation. They are a product of word formation.” (49, p. 69) Word-forming antonyms are formed with the help of word-forming means - suffixes, prefixes, the use of antonymic components in difficult words. The researchers identified the following formations:

J. Prefix formations:

1. nouns;
b) the prefix word is opposed to the prefix
2. adjectives:
- a) an unprefixed word is opposed to a prefixed one
- b) one prefix is opposed to another. In this case, the antonymous meaning is expressed by correlative prefixes
3. adverbs: married - unmarried, a lot - a little, a little - a lot, etc.;

YY. Prefix - suffix formations:

1. non-derivative noun - a derived prefix-suffixal noun: faith - unbelief, action - inaction, strength - powerlessness, poison - antidote, taste - bad taste, true - fable, etc.;
2. suffixal adjective - prefix-suffixal formation: mustachioed - beardless, horned - hornless, strong-willed - weak-willed, happy - unhappy, well-born - rootless, etc.

Scientists also note: “In word-formation antonymy, reflected antonymy predominates, i.e. derivative words that do not themselves express antonymic relations and are antonyms because their derivators have antonymous meanings. These derived words borrow antonymic meanings from their producers, as if reflecting them in their semantic structure.” (49, p. 70)

As M. Fomina notes, “Both multi-root and single-root antonymic paradigms are represented in the language by words of the most important parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs). Among the former, antonymy is most often observed in adjectives, then in nouns and verbs.” (51, p. 141)

Single-root antonyms are found among all lexico-grammatical categories of words. Verbal antonyms are especially active in the language, since this part of speech is distinguished by a wealth of prefix formations. For example, dozens of antonyms - verbs are formed using the prefixes in- (in-) you-, for- and from-, under- and over-, etc.

Among single-root antonyms, two more groups are distinguished: antonyms - enantiosemes and antonyms - euphemisms. Among eantiosems (Gr. enantios - opposite + sema - sign) the meaning of opposite is expressed by the same word. This type of antonymy is called intraword antonymy. The semantic capabilities of this antonym are realized using context (lexically) or special constructions (syntactically). Enantiosemy is observed, for example, in the words: carry (here, into the house) - “bring” and carry (from here, from home) - “carry away”; make a reservation (intentionally) - “make a reservation” (on purpose) and make a reservation (accidentally) - “make a mistake”, etc.

It should be noted that the development of opposite meanings in the semantic structure of the same word has long been of interest to researchers. So, back in 1883-1884. V.I. Scherzel published the work “On words with opposite meanings (or on the so-called eantiosemy).” In 1954, L. Bulakhovsky noted that “meanings can change in language to their direct opposite.”

In 1960 V. Vinogradov pointed out cases of the formation of “peculiar homoantonyms” in the language.

R. Budagov and L. Novikov consider this phenomenon as a type of antonymy, although in the latter’s work there is a remark that for modern language the phenomenon of enantiosemy is unproductive and that often intra-word splitting of meaning leads to the emergence of homonyms. N.M. Shansky considers words containing two opposite meanings as one of the varieties of homonyms.

Antonyms - euphemisms - words that express the semantics of the opposite in a restrained, gentle manner. They are usually formed using the prefix not-: beautiful - ugly, kind - unkind, etc.

Among antonyms with different roots, modern researchers distinguish the so-called antonyms - conversions. These include words that express the relation of opposition in both the original and modified statements, but not in the usual, direct order, but in the reverse:

Peter buys a house from Semyon. - Semyon sells the house to Peter.

The semantics of opposition in both different-root and single-root antonyms can reveal the concept of different degrees, measures of the same quality, property: expensive - cheap, deep - shallow, young - old, where a possible degree, gradation (or graduality) of opposition is logically assumed : young > youthful > middle-aged > elderly > old. Many antonymous pairs do not indicate the degree of quality, i.e. lack the sign of gradualism. Thus, it is impossible to imagine the semantic gradation of such antonym words, like grandma-grandfather, brother-sister, day-night, west-east, father-mother, etc.

Let us note, by the way, that it is words whose semantics contain an assumed, possible degree of quality or property, etc., that are often used in euphemistic expressions; compare: young - old and young - elderly or young - not young. In the first case, the antonym-euphemism elderly somewhat more restrainedly names the degree of quality expressed by the word old. In the second, the euphemism is created by adding the prefix Not.

Thus, understanding the structural and semantic capabilities of antonymic oppositions allows you to use linguistic antonyms in speech most correctly and rationally, and choose the most meaningful of them in an informative way. And this is important characteristic feature creative use of the lexical wealth of the Russian language.

Thus, antonymy is usually characterized as a lexical phenomenon; antonyms are both words with the same root and words with different roots; the antonymity of words does not depend on their grammatical form or formative components; interparticular antonymy is also systematically used in speech; according to their structure, antonyms with different roots and single roots are distinguished; Among the single-root antonyms, antonyms - enantiosemes and antonyms - euphemisms stand out; Among antonyms with different roots, modern researchers distinguish the so-called conversion antonyms.

Opposite word relationships allow the speaker to use lexical antonymy to express opposition. This is a typical function for antonyms. In this function, antonyms appear as part of such a rhetorical figure as an antithesis: From order, small things grow, but from disorder, even large ones are upset (proverb).

The antithesis has a special effect on the imagination of listeners, causing vivid ideas about the named objects and events, feelings and emotions. But the functions of antonyms are not limited to the function of opposition. Antonyms can also express other types of relations that do not have the semantics of opposition. For example, L.A. Novikov writes that opposites can in a text “not only be opposed, as is sometimes thought, but also add up, connect, and also be compared, separated, alternate, compared, complement each other, etc.” (43, p. 126). The semantic relations that arise in antonymous pairs are truly diverse. The relationship of the union of opposites within one entity is emphasized in proverbs. For example: Every ascent has its descent. Popular wisdom speaks of the dialectics of life, of the parallel existence of mutually exclusive and at the same time interdependent features (objects, phenomena). In works of art, the relationship between combining antonyms can be demonstrated with the following example: The old man spoke about love, about forgiveness, about the duty of everyone to console friend and foe “in the name of Christ.” The homogeneity of the words friend and foe “removes” the opposite semantics of these words. The meanings of antonyms are combined, and the entire expression friend and foe takes on the meaning “each,” which is emphasized by the singular form of the antonyms. The comparison relations of features expressed by antonymous words help to show how great the difference is between the commensurate objects. They were usually kept in a large stone barn with small windows under the roof. The antonyms big and small demonstrate the striking contrast between the barn and the windows in it. The relationship of excluding the possibility of doing something later, if not started earlier, is emphasized by antonyms that define the time frame, morning - evening.

When antonyms express the alternation of actions (fall - get up, flare up - go out), the semantics of a sharp, rapid, even instantaneous change in the described reality is formed in speech. For example: Lights flashed far ahead of him. Dimming and flaring up, they moved in one direction. The masterful use of antonyms creates a living, moving picture of flickering lights.

In an antonymous pair, comparison relations can be realized, for example: It is easier to lose a friend than to find one. The comparison relationship is indicated by the comparative phrase.

Often antonyms enter into relationships of complementarity, for example: There would be no happiness, but misfortune would help, and He who has not seen grief has not known happiness - the existence of one (happiness) depends on the presence of the opposite in meaning (misfortune, grief).

So, the semantic potential of antonyms in speech is diverse, which makes it possible to use words with opposite meanings in different stylistic functions and in various rhetorical techniques.

antonym oxymoron antithesis Lermontov

Types	Signs	Examples
Antonyms-qualifiers	They express qualitative opposition. Between the words of an antonymic pair there may be a middle link, indicating a gradual change in the designated quality	Cold Cool normal temperature warm hot
Antonyms-contrasts	Express the opposite direction of actions, properties and characteristics	Dawn - darken, sunrise - sunset, gain weight - lose weight, in - out, etc.
Antonyms-complementaries	They express additionality. The members of an antonymous pair complement each other to the fullest. The negation of one of the antonyms gives the meaning of the other, because there is nothing in between: not + true means “false”	Alive - dead, war - peace, south - north, life - death, sighted - blind, truth - lies, etc.

Table 7

Types of antonyms by structure

Table 8

Varieties of single-root antonyms

Sample semantic and structural

classification of antonyms

Give a semantic and structural classification of antonyms in the proverb below.

To be in an intelligent conversation is to gain intelligence; to be in a stupid conversation is to lose yours.

Smart - stupid (the main antonymic pair, they are qualitative antonyms, they are contrasted on a qualitative basis, they have different roots).

Buy - lose (quasi-antonymous pair: “buy” is an antonym of the word "lose" only in the meaning of “acquire”; denote multidirectional actions, are antonyms-contratives, different roots).

Task 2. Read F. Krivin’s poem and underline the antonyms in it.

Faces of lies

Lies can be good or evil,

Compassionate or merciless.

Lies can be clever and clumsy,

Prudent and reckless,

Intoxicating and joyless,

Too complicated and completely simple.

Lies can be sinful and holy,

It can be modest and elegant,

Outstanding and ordinary

Frank, impartial,

And sometimes it’s just vanity.

Lies can be scary and funny,

Sometimes omnipotent, sometimes completely powerless,

Now humiliated, now wayward,

Fleeting or lingering.

Lies can be wild and tame,

It can be everyday and ceremonial,

Inspirational, boring and different...

The truth can only be the truth.

Task 3. Determine what is the general semantic feature by which the opposition occurs in each of the pairs of antonyms from F. Krivin’s poem. Check which of them are recorded in the antonym dictionary and which are not. How can we explain this?

Task 4. Make antonymic pairs from these words and use them in phrases.

Water, progressive, weaken, backward, help, advanced, rejoice, hard, wet, interfere, sad, regressive, joyful, easy, talk, alien, withering, twilight, strengthen, land, dry, silent, sorrowful, dawn, own, flourishing, last, enchant, excess, knowledge, love, idealist, minimum, heavy, heat, sighted, married, first, light, cold, materialist, blind, single, maximum, insufficient, disappoint, ignorance, hatred.

practical lesson No. 5 on the course “Lexicology”.

Subject. Vocabulary of the Russian language from the point of view of its active and passive stock.

Time – 2 hours.

1. The concept of active and passive vocabulary.

2. Obsolete and obsolete words. Historicisms and archaisms. Historicism of meaning and historicism of words.

3. Types of archaisms according to the degree of obsolescence and the nature of archaization. Changing the stylistic affiliation of words.

4. Neologisms are linguistic and individual.

Task 1. Carefully study the tables below and make detailed answers based on them.

Russian vocabulary

Table 9

Archaisms and historicisms

Characteristic	Archaisms	Historicisms
Reason for leaving the active vocabulary	Repressed by other words	Objects and phenomena designated by these words have disappeared
Is it possible to select synonyms?	Yes: neck - neck, eyes - eyes, cheeks - cheeks, finger - finger, etc.	No
Degree of obsolescence	1) disappeared completely (neck, percy, morning glory); 2) exist in the form of associated roots or as part of stable phrases: beef (beef - cattle), furrier (fast - skin), mentor (nastava - sample), artist (khudog - skillful); 3) preserved as toponyms (Mytishchi), hydronyms (Ob), anthroponyms (Vyacheslav)	1) the word disappeared completely. In this case they talk about historicism of the word: policeman, clerk, bailiff; 2) the word functions in the language in a meaning derived from the main one. But in its basic meaning the word is not actively used. In this case they talk about historicism of the meaning of the word: squad (army) - pioneer squad
Purpose of use in the active dictionary	Used as a stylistic device	1. Used as a stylistic device 2. Used as neutral words (For example, in historical works)