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Synonyms and antonyms






Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings or we can say that they have same meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn (σ ύ ν) (" with") and onoma (ὄ ν ο μ α) (" name"). The words car and automobile are synonyms. Similarly, if we talk about a long time or an extended time, long and extended become synonyms. In the figurative sense, two words are often said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation:

" a widespread impression that... Hollywood was synonymous with immorality" (Doris Kearns Goodwin)

Synonyms can be any part of speech (such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions), as long as both members of the pair are the same part of speech. Here are more examples of English synonyms:

verb " buy" and " purchase"

adjective " sick" and " ill"

adverb " quickly" and " speedily"

preposition " on" and " upon "

Note that synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words; for instance, pupil as the " aperture in the iris of the eye" is not synonymous with student. Similarly, he expired means the same as he died, yet my passport has expired cannot be replaced by my passport has died.

In English, many synonyms evolved from the parallel use, in the early medieval period, of Norman French (from Latin) and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) words, often with some words being used principally by the Saxon peasantry (" folk", " freedom", " bowman") and their synonyms by the Norman nobility (" people", " liberty", " archer").

Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, ambiguous meanings, usage, etc. make them unique. Different words that are similar in meaning usually differ for a reason: feline is more formal than cat; long and extended are only synonyms in one usage and not in others (for example, a long arm is not the same as an extended arm). Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms. The purpose of a thesaurus is to offer the user a listing of similar or related words; these are often, but not always, synonyms.

Antonyms are words that mean opposite of another word

Structurally, all antonyms can be subdivided into absolute (having different roots) and derivational (of the same root), " right" - " wrong" are absolute antonyms; " to arrive" - " to leave" are absolute antonims; but " to fit" - " to unfit" are derivational.

Semantically, all antonyms can be divided in at least 3 groups:

a) contradictories. Contradictory notions are mutually opposed and they deny each other. Their relations can be described by the formula " A vs. NOT A": alive vs. dead (not alive); patient vs. impatient (not patient). Contradictories may be polar or relative (to hate- to love [not to love doesn't mean " hate" ]).

b) contraries are also mutually opposed, but they admit some possibility between themselves (cold vs. hot; but it's possible to say " cool" vs. hot, cold vs. warm etc.). This group also includes words opposed by the presence of such components of meaning as SEX and AGE (man -woman; man- boy etc.).

c) incompatibles' the relations between them are not of contradiction but of exclusion26. They exclude possibilities of other words from the same semantic set (Ex. " red" - doesn't mean that it is opposed to white it means all other colors; the same is true to such words as " morning", " day", " night" etc.).

There is another kind of opposition- formed by conversives (by Arnold). reversive antonyms (by Belyaevskaya). Reversive antonyms imply the denotation of the same referent or situation as viewed from different points of view (Ex. to buy vs. to sell; to cause vs. to suffer).

 


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