Antonyms аrе words belonging to the same part of speech different in sound,
and characterised by semantic polarity of their denotational meaning. According to
the character of semantic opposition antonyms are subdivided into antonyms proper,
complete and conversitives. The semantic polarity in antonyms proper is relative, the
opposition is gradual, it may embrace several elements characterised by different
degrees of the same property. They always imply comparison. Large and little or
small denote polar degrees of the same notion, i.e. size.
Complementaries are words characterised only by a binary opposition which
may have only two members; the denial of one member of the opposition implies the
assertion of the other e.g. not male means female.
Conversives are words which denote one and the same referent as viewed from
different points of view, that of the subject and that of the object, e.g. buy-sell, give-
receive.
Morphologically antonyms are subdivided into root (absolute) antonyms (good
- bad) and derivational antonyms (apper - disapper).
Semantic field is a closely knit sector of vocabulary characterised by a common
concept (e.g. in the semantic field of space we find nouns (expanse, extent, surface);
verbs (extend, spread, span); adjectives (spacious, roomy, vast, broad)). The members
of the semantic fields are not synonymous but all of them are joined together by some
common semantic component. This semantic component common to all the members
of the field is sometimes described as the common denominator of meaning, like the
concept of kinship, concept of colour, parts of the human body and so on. The basis
of grouping in this case is not only linguistic but also extra-linguistic: the words are
associated, because the things they name occur together and are closely connected in
reality.
Thematic (or ideographic) groups are groups of words joined together by
common contextual associations within the framework of the sentence and reflect the
interlinking of things and events in objective reality. Contextual association are
formed as a result of regular co-occurrence of words in similar repeatedly used
contexts. Thematic or ideographic groups are independent of classification into parts
of speech. Words and expression are here classed not according to their lexico-
grammatical meaning but strictly according to their signification, i.e. to the system of
logical notions (e.g. tree - -grow - green; journey - train, taxi, bus - ticket; sunshine -
brightly - blue - sky).
Hyponomy is the semantic relationship of inclusion existing between elements
of various levels. Thus, e.g. vehicle includes car, bus, taxi; oak implies tree, horse
implies animal; table implies furniture. The hyponymic relationship is the
relationship between the meaning of the general and the individual terms.
A hyperonym is a generic term which serves as the name of the general as
distinguished from the names of the species-hyponyms. In other words the more
specific term is called the hyponym. For instance, animal is a generic term as
compared to the specific names wolf, dog or mouse (these are called equonyms) Dog,
in its turn, may serve as a generic term for different breeds such as bull-dog, collie,
poodle, etc.
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