Antonyms - what is this?

Antonyms are opposed to each other in meaning, but belong to the same part of speech words. They have different writing and sounding. To determine the meaning of one antonym is very simple through another, it is enough to give it the form of a negation. For example, a direct antonym to the word to say - not to be silent, sad - not cheerful and so on. In this article, we will consider in more detail the concept of "antonyms" and learn their kinds.

General information

In view of the richness of the Russian language, there are many nuances and subtleties in any part of speech. It's not for nothing that many textbooks on linguistics are being studied in schools and some higher educational institutions.

1. It is noteworthy that in connection with the multivaluedness of linguistic units, the antonyms of the same word differ in different contexts. For example: an old boar - a young boar, an old car - a new car, an old cheese - fresh cheese and so on.
2. Antonyms do not exist for every lexical unit. They are not, for example, the words sew, institute, book and so on.
3. The main feature is the opposition of words, which can denote:

• Signs of the subject ( clever - stupid, evil - good) ;
• Social and natural phenomena ( talent - mediocrity, heat - cold );
• States and actions (to disassemble - collect, forget - remember ).

Types of antonyms

They are different in structure.

• Monotonous antonyms are words that are opposite in meaning, but have one root. For example: love - dislike, progress - regress . They are formed by attaching attachments (non-, without / c-, re-, de-, and so on).
• Raznokornevye antonyms are words that are polar in meaning and have different roots. For example: large - small, black - white .

In its turn, the first species is also subdivided into: antonyms-euphemisms (loyally express the opposite, a difference, for example: significant - insignificant) and enantiosis (express opposition with the same word, for example: view (in the sense of seeing) and view (in the sense skip).

Also, another group is singled out: contextual antonyms are words that differ in meaning only in a particular case. For example, in the author's performance: she had no eyes - and eyes .

The meaning of antonyms is as follows.

• Opposite: they denote the polarity of actions, phenomena or signs. As a rule, between these antonyms one can put a word with a neutral meaning: joy - apathy - sadness, positive - indifference - negative.
• Vector: they denote different directions: put on - remove, open - close.
• Contradictory: indicate the polarity of objects, phenomena and attributes, each of which excludes the other. Between them to put a neutral word is impossible: right - left.

Functions of antonyms

In the sentence the antonyms play a stylistic role and are used to make speech more expressive. Often they are used as an antithesis (contrast, contrast). Example: "Who was nobody, that will become everything". Sometimes the antonyms form an oxymoron (compound of the uncombinable). Example: "Hot snow", "Living corpse".

Antonyms are widely used not only in the names of works, but also in proverbs and sayings.