SEMANTICS : SYNONYMY AND ANTONYMY

 

SYNONYMY AND ANTONYMY

A.    Synonymy

1.      The definition of synonymy

According to Zgusta synonyms is word which have different forms but identical meaning. However, according to Tetsuya (1987: 173) synonyms is word that has similar meaning.

According to John I. Saed synonyms is different pgonological word which have the same or very similar meanings. Furthermore, according to Arifin and Tasai (2000) synonyms are two or more words which in principle have the same meaning but are different in form.

Frome the definition the writer conclude that synonyms is words that are similar or have a related meaning to another word.

 

2.      The example of synonymy

Angry	Mad
Beautiful	Pretty
Begin	Start
Answer	Reply

 

3.      The classification of synonymy

a.       Close (partial) synonymy

Close (partial) synonymy is when words share most of the necessary components or constituents.

i.     Finish and terminate

b.      Full (complete) synonymy

Full (complete) synonymy is regarded as words having identical meaning components. In other words complete synonyms if and only if they share all ingredients with one another.

ii.   almost and nearly

 

B.     Antonymy

1.      The definition of antonymy

According to Verhaar (1978 in chaer 2002) antonym is an expression (usually a word, but can also in the form of a phrase or sentence) whose meaning is considered the opposite of the meaning af another expression.

According to Abdul Chaer (2006) antonym are two words whose meanings are considered opposites.

According to Lyons (1977: 286) who states that antonymy covers the relation between lexical items whose meanings stand in opposition to each other and it is often thought as the opposite of synonymy.

From the definition the writer conclude that antonymy is oppositeness of meaning between a word and the other word or among words in the same part of speech, such as good-bad (adjective-adjective) and fast-slowly (adverb-adverb).

 

2.      The example of antonymy

Death	Alive
Cold	Hot
Clean	Dirty
Fat	Slim

 

3.      The classification of antonymy

a.       Gradable antonymy

This type describes something which can be measured and compared with something else.

Example : tall X short

b.      Complementary antonymy

A complementary antonym is one of a pair of words with opposite meanings, where the two meanings do not lie on a continous spectrum.

Example : beautiful X ugly

c.       Relational antonyms

Relational antonym is one of a pair of words with opposite meanings, where opposite makes sense only in the context of the relationship between the two meanings.

Example :

-          Husband X wife

-          Doctor X patient