Na?onalWorkshoponCogni?veLinguis?csandLanguagesoftheNortheast
TezpurUniversity
February4–5,2017
AntonymyinLanguageStructure
andUse
Klaus-UwePanther&LindaL.Thornburg
1
Oppositeness
2
Areyoutheoppositesex,oramI?
3
4
Contents
1. Introduc?on 2. Theno?onofoppositeness(antonymy)
3. Antonymyontheparadigma?caxis
4. Antonymyonthesyntagma?caxis 5. Lexicaland“gramma?cal”oxymora
6.Conclusion
5
1.Introduc?on
6
Lexicalmeanings:Networkofsenses
•  Synonymy
•  Hyponymy
•  Meronymy
•  Antonymy
7
Table1.Someexamplesforwordassocia?ons
(adaptedfromClark&Clark1977)
8
Graph1:S?mulus=‘man’
(N = 1,008)
767
65
31
18
17
119
girl
MALE/FEMALE
ADULT/NONADULT
woman
Binaryantonym
MALE/FEMALE
boy
Con?nuum
ADULT/
NON-ADULT
9
Graph2:S?mulus=‘long’
(N = 1,008)
758
11
10
9
9
211
short
Polarantonym
SCALAR
2me
COLLOCATION
fellow
COLLOCATION
10
Antonymyinlanguagestructure
anduse
AXIS
LINGUISTIC PHENOMENON
Lexicogrammar
Paradigmatic
Syntagmatic
C onceptual-pragmatic
function
Auto-antonymy in the lexicon Irony, sarcasm
Antonymous words in
constructions
Oxymora
Clashes between lexical
meaning and construction
meaning (“grammatical
oxymora”)
Performative paradoxes
11
2.Theno?onofoppositeness
(antonymy)
12
Antonymy:NarrowsenseI
1.  binaryopposites/contradictories
same–different
single–married
dead–alive
Theyareneitherbothtruenorbothfalseofa
thing.
13
Antonymy:NarrowsenseII
1.  binaryopposites/contradictories
same–different,single–married,dead–alive
Theyareneitherbothtruenorbothfalseofa
thing.
2.polaropposites/contraries
young–old,good–bad,wide–narrow
Theycannotbothbetrueofthesamething,
buttheymaybothbefalseofthesamething.
14
Antonymy:Broadsense
1.  binaryopposites/contradictories
same–different,single–married,dead–alive
2.polaropposites/contraries
young–old,good–bad,wide–narrow
3.mul?pleincompa?bili?es
spring–summer–fall–winter
4.converseopposites
buy–sell,parent–child
5.reverse opposites
push–pull
15
Workingdefini?onofantonymy
Twolexicalitemsareantonymsif
–  theycorrespondtooneofthetypesofantonymy
alreadymen?oned,and
–  theyareformallysubs?tutableforeachotherina
construc?on(some?meswithminoradjustments)
withoutresul?nginungramma?cality.
16
3.Antonymyontheparadigma?c
axis
17
3.1.Auto-antonymyinthelexicon
(deletedforthelecture)
18
3.2.Antonymyforrhetorical
purposes
19
Dogtomaster:
“Howironic.Sinceyouhadmeneutered,
you’remybestfriend.”
20
Rhetoricaleffects
Irony,sarcasm
•  Boy,thisfoodisterrific!(Akmajianetal.
2001:378;italicsmine)
•  Thatargumentisarealwinner.(Akmajian
etal.2001:378;italicsmine)
•  Youareafinefriend.→‘Youareabad
friend’
21
Registerandsub-culture
•  bad ‘good’
•  wicked ‘excellent’
•  pretty, e.g. pretty ear ‘deformed ear, cauliflower
ear’
•  Voßhagen (1999) investigates such uses and
proposes treating them as metonymies. 22
4.Antonymyonthesyntagma?c
axis
23
4.1.Antonymouslexemesin
construc?ons
24
Antonymsinsomeconstruc?ons(seee.g.
Jones2002,2006;Jonesetal.2008;Murphy2006;Murphy
etal.2008).
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
XandY,e.g.richandpoor
bothXandY,e.g.bothRepublicansandDemocrats
XandYalike,e.g.youngandoldalike
whetherXorY,e.g.whethersingleormarried
XaswellasY,e.g.buyersaswellassellers
XbutnotY,e.g.menbutnotwomen
25
COCAdata
26
TheXandYalikeconstruc;on:Favorslexical
itemsinantonymiccontrast
1.  ?sparrowsandbirdsalike
(hyponym–hypernym)
2.  ?birdsandsparrowsalike
(hypernym–hyponym)
3.  ?nosesandfacesalike(meronymy)
4.  *buyersandpurchasersalike(synonymy)
5.  *boysandboysalike(repe??on)
27
Quan?fiers1
1.*allandnonealike
2.*someandnonealike
3.*everybodyandnobodyalike
4.*fewandmanyalike
28
Quan?fiers2
However,quan?fiersworkiftheyare
notusedbutmen;oned:
‘Some’and‘none’alikeare
quan?fiers.
29
TheXandYalikeconstruc?on:
Meaning
•  X,Y:antonymic
•  Construc?on
neutralizes
conceptualcontrast
•  Construc?onconveys:
somepredicateapplies
equallytoXandY
rich poor
(seealsoMurphy2006)
30
Whyareoppositequan?fiersnotpossible
intheXandYalikeconstruc?on?
Quan?fiersdonotworkintheXandY
alikeconstruc?onbecauseitis
conceptuallyimpossibletoneutralize
thecontrastbetweene.g.allvs.none
orfewvs.many.
31
Murphy’sgeneraliza?on
•  Murphy(2006:69)formulatesanimportant
generaliza?onaboutconjoinedantonyms:
•  “[C]oordinatedantonymsareusedinorderto
indicatethatwhatisbeingsaidistrueofboth
theoppositestatesandallstatesinbetween.”
32
4.2.Conceptualproper?esof
coordinatedbinaryopposites
33
Binaryantonyms:XandYalike
1.ThedeadandalivealikeofBrady’sAn?etambaule
picturesvisitusasghosts,whosehaun?ngimagesare
s?llcrisplypreservedforoureyesuponthesefine
reproduc?onprints.
34
Binaryantonyms:XandYalike
1.ThedeadandalivealikeofBrady’sAn?etam
baulepicturesvisitusasghosts,whose
haun?ngimagesares?llcrisplypreservedfor
oureyesuponthesefinereproduc?onprints.
Straighvorwardinterpreta?on:
Somethingispredicatedofdeadandalive
par;cipantsinthebaulephotographs,namely
that“theyvisitusasghosts...”
Noaddi?onalpragma?cinferences!
35
4.2.Theinferen?alproper?esof
coordinatedpolaropposites
36
Polarantonyms:XandYalike
2.Therewassomethingforall,youngandoldalike.
37
Polarantonyms:XandYalike
2.Therewassomethingforall,youngandoldalike.
Pragma?cinference:
youngandoldalike
‘young,teen-aged,middleaged,elderly,old’
Cf.Jones(2002);Murphy(2006:6):“[C]oordinatedantonymsare
usedinordertoindicatethatwhatisbeingsaidistrueofboththe
oppositestatesandallstatesinbetween.”
38
Figure3.Pragma?cinferencefrompolarantonyms
toallvaluesonthescale
39
Pragma?cinferencefrompolarantonymstoall
valuesonthescale
•  Metonymic:SUBCATEGORYFORCATEGORY
•  〈ant+,ant-〉⇒〈ant+,sv1,...,svn,ant-〉
•  PrincipleofInforma;veness:‘Saynomore
thanyoumust’(Levinson2000,Huang
2007):economicalcoding!
•  Cancelable
40
Non-polarscalarvalues
3. Buildingonfounda?onslaidinthelate
1970s[...]alargenumberofauthors,
youngandmiddle-agedalike,inthepast
decadehaveproducedanoutpouringof
researchwithintheKeynesiantradi?on
[...].
[hup://www.jstor.org/pss/2727103]
41
Non-polarscalarvalues
Pragma?cinferencetowholescale
isnotdrawn:
youngandmiddle-agedalike
‘young,middle-aged,elderly,old’
42
4.4.Inferen?alproper?esof
mul;pleincompa;bles
43
Mul?pleIncompa?bili?es:XandYalike
4.Acar-freefamilyresortofferingawarmwelcome,
summerandwinteralike.
44
Mul?pleIncompa?bili?es:XandYalike
4.Acar-freefamilyresortofferingawarm
welcome,summerandwinteralike.
Pragma?cinference:
summerandwinteralike
‘summer,winter,fall,spring’
45
Pragma?cinferencefromtwocohyponymstoall
cohyponyms
Multiple incompatibles (e.g. four seasons)
COHYP1
COHYP2
COHYP3
COHYP4
Pragmatic inference:
COHYP1 & COHYP3 ALIKE →
COHYP1 & COHYP2 & COHYP3
& COHYP4 ALIKE
COHYP1
COHYP
→
COHYP2
COHYP3
cohyponymic relation
cohyponyms
pragmatic inference (possibly metonymic)
COHYP4
46
Pragma?cinferencefromtwoco-hyponyms
toallcohyponyms
•  Metonymic:SUBCATEGORYFORCATEGORY
•  〈COHYP1,COHYPn〉⇒〈COHYP1,COHYP2,...,COHYPn〉
•  PrincipleofInforma;veness:‘Saynomore
thanyoumust’
•  Cancelable
47
Cohyponyms:inferen?alpoten?alvaries
summerandwinteralike
‘summer,winter,fall,spring’
fallandspringalike
‘summer,winter,fall,spring’
48
summerandwinteralike
49
Cohyponyms:inferen?alpoten?alvaries
summerandwinteralike
‘summer,winter,fall,spring’
• Summerandwintermaximallycontrast(incomparison
totheotherseasons),bothvisuallyandintermsof
temperature.
• Therefore,theycaneasilybeconceptualizedas
oppositeendpointsonascale.
50
4.5.Contrastsinprototypicality
51
Birdwatching
52
Contrastsinprototypicality
ButI’mreasonabl[y]proudofit,becausemy
pointisthatthefuninwatchingbirdsandtheir
behaviour–sparrowsandshoebillsalike–isto
discovernewthingsandenjoynature,ratherthan
the?ckingspor?vecompe??on.
Pragma?cinferencetoanopenlist,i.e.from
prototypicalmembers(sparrows)tomore
peripheralmembers(shoebills)
53
Inferencefromprototypicalandperipheral
membertoallmembers
<PROTOTYPICALCLASSMEMBER&
PERIPHERALCLASSMEMBER>
→
<ALLCLASSMEMBERS>
54
Pragma?callyconstruedantonymy
Iaspiretoafuturethats?llincludedstrong
cohortsofBri?shacademics—returning
Argonautsandhomebodiesalike!
[TheDistantFen:CambridgeintheWorld.AnnualAddresstotheRegentHouse,1
October2007]
Greekmythology:TheArgonautswereagroupofheroesinsearchofthe
GoldenFleece.
Pragma?cinferencefromArgonautsand
homebodiestoallkindsofacademics.
55
4.6.ThemeaningoftheXandY
alikeconstruc?onrevisited
56
TheXandYalikeconstruc?on:
Meaning(ini?alproposal)
•  X,Y:antonymic
•  Construc?on
neutralizes
conceptualcontrast
•  Construc?onconveys:
somepredicateapplies
equally
toXandY
rich poor
(seealsoMurphy2006)
57
TheXandYalikeconstruc?on:
Revisedgeneraliza?on
•  X,Y:conceptuallydis?nct/
dissimilar
•  Construc;on:neutralizes
conceptualcontrast
•  Func;onofconstruc;on:to
makedissimilars
(entrenchedor
pragma?callyconstrued)
similarinatleastone
respect(codedinthe
predicate)
sparrows
shoebills
Argonautshomebodies
58
Meaninganduseofthe
XandYalikeconstruc?on
•  XandYareconceptuallyconstruedas
dissimilarwithinaconceptualdimension.
•  XandYalikeneutralizestheconceptual
contrastbetweenXandY.
•  XandYalikemakesdissimilars(entrenchedor
pragma?callyconstrued)similarinatleast
onerespect(codedinthepredicate).
59
Inferen?alpoten?alofthe
XandYalikeconstruc?on
•  IfXandYaremaximallycontrasted(e.g.intermsof
polarity,cohyponymy,prototypicality,etc.),an
exhaus;ve/open-listinferenceistriggeredfromXand
Ytoclassmembers,forwhichthepredicateholds.
•  IfXandYarenotmaximallycontras;ve,the
exhaus?ve/open-listinferenceisblocked.
•  IfXandYaregenuinebinaryantonyms,theXandY
alikeconstruc?ondoesnotlicenseanexhaus?ve/
open-listinference.
60
Inferen?alstructureofXandYalikeconstruc?ons
CLASS
MEMBER1
MEMBER2
Metonymic inference
CLASS
MEMBER1
ALL OTHER MEMBERS
MEMBER2
& MEMBER2: maximally (non-binarily) contrasted
members of a class
→ : metonymic inference (implicature)
MEMBER1
61
5.Lexicaland“gramma?cal”
oxymora
62
5.1.Lexicaloxymora
63
What’sle|?
Syntagma2caxis
Antonymic“clashes”
-oxymora
-lexicalmeaningvs.construc;onmeaning
64
“WellIpersonallyfindtheword
‘oxymoron’tobeanoxymoron.”
65
AnoxymoroninAssamese
prithbikhanghuraniā
EARTH-FLATROUND
‘theflatEarthisround’=anoxymoron!
[Borah,Gautam.2012.ClassifiersinAssamese:Their
grammarandmeaningchains.InHyslopetal.,Eds.,
NortheastIndianLinguis;cs,vol.4,p.305.Cambridge
UniversityPress.]
66
“Deepdown,I’mpreFysuperficial”–AvaGardner(actress)
Oxymora
•  NN:love-haterela?onship
•  AdjAdj:biKersweetlove
•  AdjN:happyagony
•  NPis/willbeNP:freedomisslavery,
‘BoyswillbeGirls’(TVshow)
•  theNofNP:TheSoundofSilence
67
“Ac;ngishappyagony”-AlecGuinness,actor
Oxymora
•  stereotypes
•  experien?albasis
GOOD ACTING
HARD WORK
PHYSICAL & MENTAL
PAIN
CREATIVE ARTISTIC WORK
ELATION
& SATISFACTION
cause-effect relation
antonymic conflict
Stereotypeofthe“sufferingar?st”
68
“Youdisgustme,butIlikeit.”
69
5.2.Clashesbetweenconstruc?onal
andlexicalmeaning
70
Antonymicclashbetweenwordmeaningand
construc?onmeaning
IGNORE THIS
SIGN!
71
Oxymora:Antonymicclashesbetween
wordsandconstruc?ons
1.  Ignorethissign!
Anorderthatcannotbecompliedwith.
2. Howtobespontaneous.
3. Bespontaneousattheright;me...
Interpreta?onof(2)and(3)aseither
nonsensicalormeaningfuldependsonH‘s
psychologicalfolktheory(stereotype)
72
Antonymicclash:construc?onalvs.lexicalmeaning,
i.e.‘premeditated’vs.‘impulsive’
‘SasksHtoactinaspontaneousmanner’
✸ Bespontaneous
IMPULSIVE
BEHAVIOR H
PREMEDITATED
ACTION H
73
Antonymicclash:construc?onalvs.lexicalmeaning,
i.e.‘premeditated’vs.‘impulsive’
‘SasksHtoactinaspontaneousmanner’
✔ Bespontaneous
IMPULSIVE
BEHAVIOR H
RESULTANT
IMPULSIVE
BEHAVIOR H
PREMEDITATED
ACTION H
74
Conclusion
Antonymy
•  isnotjustasta?clexicalrela?on;
•  dynamicallystructuresthelexicon,construc?ons,
andspeechacts;
•  providesstrongevidenceagainthatcogni?ve
linguis?csshouldintegratearichtheoryof
pragma?c–includingmetonymic–reasoning.
75
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Schönefeld.(availableat:www.construc?ons-online.de).
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