6.4   Antonymy

    1. Types of Antonyms

    Antonymy deals with semantic opposition. Antonyms can be defined as words which are opposite in meaning. There are different forms of oppositeness. 

    1) Complementaries（互补反义词）

    Complementaries (also binary antonyms(两极性反义词), binary taxonomy(两极性分类) or contradictory terms(矛盾词)) are forms of antonyms which 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(肯定) of one is the denial of the other or vice versa. In other words, if one of the pair is applicable, 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 others. If something is imperfect, no matter how slight or how extensive the imperfection, the fact remains that the thing cannot be perfect.

    Another distinctive feature of this category is that such antonyms are nongradable(). 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, he cannot be married. There is no middle ground as * He is very single, or more single, or extremely single.

    2)  Contraries

    Contraries (also gradable antonyms, gradable opposites) are best envisaged（想象，设想） in terms of a scale running between two poles or extremes. Words such as rich—poor, old—young, big—small represent two points at both ends of the pole. The existence of one is in relation to 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 what is generally called semantic relativity（语义相对性）. 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 opinion.

As we have already said, antonyms of this kind are characteristic of semantic polarity（语义极性）. These antonyms form part of a scale of values between two poles and can accommodate（容纳） a middle ground belonging neither to one pole nor to the other.

old, middle-aged, young

open, ajar（半掩）, 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 can be added attachment（依恋）, liking, indifference（漠然，不在乎）, antipathy（反感）, etc..

 

    3)  Converses（逆反反义词）

    Converses consist of relational opposites such as parent—child, husband—-wife, predecessor（前任）—successor（继任）, employer—employee. The pairs of words indicate such a reciprocal（相应的） 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 or nouns signifying an act or state that reverse or undo 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 to each other with one member always presupposing the other.

    Some of the converses look similar to complementaries（互补反义词）: man—woman vs. husband—wife. Yet they are not the same. There is an absolute opposition between complementaries and the denial of one is the assertion of the other. If the adult is not a man, then the adult must be a woman or vice versa. In the case of converses, the opposition is only relational. What is applicable to complementaries is not applied to converses. 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（站得住脚）.

 

    2. Some of the Characteristics of Antonyms  

    Antonyms are classified on the basis of semantic opposition. Words denoting nature, quality or state of things have in many cases antonyms. This accounts for abundance of antonyms among adjectives. Next come verbs which denote action or activity. Least antonyms are found among nouns which generally denote names of objects, domain, idea, etc. . Many words, though having synonyms, do not find their semantic opposites, for example, read, eat ₉ house, book, power, magazine. Therefore, in a language, there are a great many more synonyms than antonyms.

       Words which are polysemantic 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（未醉的，冷静的）. Dull also offers 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 vivacious（活泼的）. The opposite of dull in 'dull weather' can be sunny. 'Dull noise' and 'dull pain' indicate that their opposite counterparts are sharp or acute. In the sentence 'These factors affect both intelligent and dull children', the antonym of dull is obviously intelligent.

    Antonyms differ in semantic inclusion. Pairs of antonyms are seen as unmarked and marked terms respectively, on the grounds that one member is more specific than the other and the meaning of the marked term is found in that of the unmarked. For example, man—-woman and dog—bitch are two pairs of antonyms. In each pair, the second term is marked and is more specific than the first. Man differentiates from woman not only in the respect of sex but also in its semantic inclusion. Consider the sentence ^'There has been no man on the island'. In this case, man signifies ' human being', naturally including woman , not vice versa. The same is true of the other pair. We can say male/female dog, but these adjectives are inapplicable with bitch.

    The markedness is also applied to adjectives such as tall—short, old — young where the second term is more restricted in distribution than the first, e. g.

    (1)  How tall is his brother?

    (2)  How short is his brother?

So far as the meaning is concerned, sentence (1) is inclusive. The use of tall does not exclude the possibility of his brother being very short. But sentence (2) is much more restricted in sense and is considered abnormal unless the speaker is particularly interested in the shortness of his brother or curious enough to find out how short his brother is. 

    Contraries are gradable antonyms, differing in degree of intensity, so each has its own corresponding opposite. For example, hot and 'warm can be said to be synonyms, only different in intensity. Correspondingly, they each have a different antonym, e.g. the opposite of hot is cold and that of -warm is cool. We cannot regard cool as the antonym of hot or cold that of -warm. It is the same with poor, destitute（赤贫）—rich, opulent（富有）. 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.

 

    3. The Use of Antonyms

    Antonyms have various practical uses and have long proved helpful and valuable in defining the meanings of a given word. Take the polysemant（多义词）fresh for example. It appears in phrases of the same structure: fresh bread, fresh air, fresh flowers, fresh look, yet it does not have the same meaning in each collocation. The different shades of meaning are clearly brought out by replacing them with an antonym in each case: stale bread, stuffy air, faded flowers, tired look. The defining feature of antonyms is illustrated also in the following sentence:

    Unlike her gregarious （不爱社交的）sister, Jane is a shy, unsociable person.

The meaning of gregarious is reflected unmistakably by the antonym unsociable without definition.

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 which look neat and pleasant, and sound rhythmic, e. g.

rain or shine（风雨无阻；无论如何）      

now or never（机不可失）

here and there（到处；四面八方）     

thick and thin（不顾艰难险阻；同甘共苦）

weal and woe （祸福）     

high and low（高低贵贱）

friend or foe （敌友）      

give and take（平等交换；交换意见）

Antonyms are often used to form antithesis（对偶） to achieve emphasis by putting contrasting ideas together. Quite a few proverbs and sayings are illustrative examples:

 

Easy come, easy go. （来得易，去得快。）

More haste, less speed.（欲速则不达。）

United we stand , divided we fall.（团结则存，分裂则亡。）

    Charles Dickens is another master of using antonyms to convey his ideas. The following is an extract from 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（时代） of incredulity（怀疑）, 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（最大的） degree of comparison only.

    This is a superb（绝妙的，极好的，杰出的）description of the time of the French Revolution, a time full of contradictions, opposing ideas, views, and all possibilities.