Antonyms

Plan:
1. The meaning of antonyms.
2. Classification of antonyms.
3. Training exercises.

Antonyms may be defined as two or more words of the same language different in sound-form, 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 contradictory or contrary notions.

Antonyms form mostly pairs, not groups like synonyms:

Classification of antonyms.
I) It is more or less universally recognised that among the cases that are traditionally described as antonyms there are at least the following groups
II) Another classification of antonyms is based on a morphological approach
1. Antonyms proper
2. Complementary antonyms (Incompatibles)
3. Conversives (relational opposites)
1. Root antonyms
2. Derivational antonyms

1. Antonyms proper
Antonyms proper – show the polar degrees of the same concept, feelings.
Contradictories
Contradictions without degrees.
Contraries
Contradictions that have an intermediate meaning.
Married
Женат

2. Complementary antonyms (Incompatibles)
Semantic relations of incompatibility exist among the antonyms with the common component of meaning and may be described as the reverse of hyponymy, i.e. as the relations of exclusion but not of contradiction.

3. Conversives (relational opposites)
Conversives (relational opposites) denote one and the same referent or situation as viewed from different points of view, with a reversal of the order of participants and their roles.

Root antonyms (right - wrong) - the root of the word is involved in contrast.

2. Derivational antonyms (happy - unhappy) are created by the presence of negative affixes. The affixes in them serve to deny the quality stated in the stem.

Exercise 1. Choose antonyms for the following adjectives:
Open, heavy, dry, cold, fat, tall, strong, tidy, young, beautiful, long, curly, quiet, narrow, big, married, empty, fast, bitter, clean, rich, cheap, difficult, good, high.

Exercise 2. Determine the type of antonyms.
Parent - child; old - young; single - married; left - right; big — small; perfect - imperfect; man — woman; give - receive.