Semantics: Synonymy, Antonymy, Hyphonymy

SYNONYMY

Synonymy is used to mean sameness of meaning. Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. Synonyms can often, though not always, be substituted for each other in sentences. We should keep in mind that the idea of “sameness” of meaning used in discussing synonymy is not necessarily “total sameness.” It has been said that there are no perfect synonyms—that is, no two words ever have exactly the same meaning. There are many occasions when one word is appropriate in a sentence, but its synonym would be odd. For example, whereas the word answer fits in the sentence Sandy had only one answer correct on the test, the word reply would sound odd. Synonymous forms may also differ in terms of formal versus informal uses. The sentence My father purchased a large automobile has virtually the same meaning as My dad bought a big car, with four synonymous replacements, but the second version sounds much more casual or informal than the first.       

Jog/run	Fast/quick	Garbage/trash	Infant/baby
Fall/Autumn	Couch/sofa	dangerous/risky	little/small
Conceal/hide	big/large	fertile/fruitful	ready/alert
Broad/wide	car/automobile	hard/difficult	rich/wealthy
Freedom/liberty	outgoing/friendly	Lazy/idle	mad/crazy
buy/purchase	cab/taxi	intelligent/clever	Present/gift

ANTONYMY

Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. There are several kinds of antonyms.

A. Gradable Antonyms

Gradable antonyms represent points on a scale that are roughly equal in distance from the middle of the scale. Two words are gradable antonyms if they are at the opposite ends of a continuous scale.

Rich—well-to-do—poor

Old—middle-aged—young

Open—ajar—close

Hot—warm—cool—cold

Beautiful—good-looking—plain—ugly

Love—attachment—liking—indifference—antipathy—hate

Happy/sad	Easy/difficult	Big/small	Fast/slow
Long/short	Clean/dirt	Early/late	Good/bad

ð Gradable antonyms can be used in comparative constructions like “I’m bigger than you” and “A pony is smaller than a horse”.

ð The negative of one member of a gradable pair does not necessarily imply the other. For example, the sentence “My car isn’t old”, doesn’t necessarily mean “My car is new”.

ð Another characteristic of certain pairs of gradable antonyms is that one is marked and the other unmarked. The unmarked member is the one used in questions of degree. We ask, ordinarily, “How high is the mountain?” (not “How low is it?”). We answer “Ten thousand feet high” but never “Ten thousand feet low”. Thus high is the unmarked member of high/low. Similarly, tall is the unmarked member of tall/short, fast the unmarked member of fast/slow, and so on.

B. Non-Gradable Antonyms (Binary Antonyms-Complementary Pairs)

Non-gradable antonyms (also called complementary pairs or binary antonyms) are direct opposites. They represent opposed states that cannot be measured on a scale. There is no continuum or middle ground between the two sides.

ð Non-gradable antonyms cannot be used in comparative constructions and don’t allow adverbs like very to qualify them. For example; we can’t say “John is deader than Tom” or “He was more alive than I was”. Non- gradable antonyms are so opposed to each other that they do not admit any possibilities between them.

ð Non-gradable antonyms are complementary in that the negation of one is the meaning of the other. For example; not dead = alive, not true=false and so on.

Alive/dead	Accidental/intentional	Against/for	Male/female
Married/single	Same /different	Right/wrong	Sink/float
True/false	Vacant/occupied	Forget/remember	Man/woman
Off/on	Fail/pass	Hit/miss	Boy/girl
Present/absent	Awake/asleep	Day/night	Thaw/freeze

C. Converses (Relational Opposites)

Relational antonyms are sometimes considered a subcategory of complementary antonyms. The difference is that relational antonyms indicate a relationship between two (or more) words that one of them cannot be used without suggesting the other. There is a relationship between two words which seem to be opposites of each other but in fact actually imply each other. One exists only because the other exists.

Brother/sister	Mother/father	Husband/wife	Parent/child
Own/belong	Above/below	Fraction/whole	Teacher/student
Buy/sell	Give/receive	Predator/prey	King/subject
Slave/master	Employer/employee	Lend/borrow	Doctor/patient
Teach/learn	Offense/defense	Lead/follow	Come/go
East/west	South/north	Win/lose	Left/right
In/out	Inside/outside	Front/back	Over/under
Behind/ahead	Before/after	Up/down	Floor/ceiling

ð There is a relationship in which the two opposites must both exist. We can accept conversive antonyms as representing the same situation from two points of view.  For example, if Tarzan is Jane’s husband, then Jane is Tarzan’s wife, if someone is selling something, there must be someone buying it. If a picture is above the sofa, then the sofa is below the picture. "A owns B" is the same as "B belongs to A".  If someone wins, someone must lose. If there is a fraction, there must be a whole. If X gives something  to Y, then Y receives something from X. If John is Sarah’s teacher, then Sarah is John’s student.

D. Reversives

Reversives are antonyms in which the meaning of one is the reverse action of the other. Reversives are a form of relational opposites. They represent movement or change in opposite directions.

Appear/disappear	Come/go	Shorten/lengthen	Raise/lower	Tie/untie
Rise/fall	Fill/empty	Pack/unpack	Zip/unzip	Do/undo
exhale/inhale	Connect/disconnect	Progress/regress	Lock/unlock	Cover/uncover
Dress/undress	Explode/implode	Get on/get off	Button/unbutton	Inflate/deflate
Wrap/unwrap	Enter/exit	Open/close	Ascend/descend	Build/demolish

E. Autoantonyms

An auto-antonym or contronym (also spelled contranym), is a word with multiple meanings, one of which is defined as the reverse of one of its other meanings. Thus auto-antonyms are their own opposites.  

Temper means both “to harden” and “to soften”

Cleave can mean "to cling" or "to split".

Dust can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house) or to add dust (dust a cake with powdered sugar).

Fast can mean "moving quickly" as in "running fast," or it can mean "not moving" as in "stuck fast."

Skin means "to cover with skin" (as in to skin a drum) as well as "to strip or peel off" (as in to skin an animal).

Overlook can mean "to inspect" or "to fail to notice".

Resign can mean "give up or quit" or "continue".

Sanction can mean "to permit" or "to punish".

Terrific can mean "very good" or "very bad".

F. Antiautonyms

An antiautonym is one of a pair of words which mean the same thing, although one word seems, for some reason, as though it should be the "opposite" of the other. This concept is related to, but different than, an autoantonym, which is a single word which means both one thing and its opposite. In English there are several ways to form antonyms. You can add the prefix un-: likely/unlikely, able/unable, fortunate/unfortunate or you can add non-: entity/nonentity, conformist/nonconformist or you can add in-: tolerant/intolerant, discreet/indiscreet, decent/indecent. These strategies occasionally backfire, however. Pairs such as loosen and unloosen; flammable and inflammable; valuable and invaluable, and a few other “antiautonyms” actually have the same or nearly the same meaning despite looking like antonyms.

HYPONYMY

When the meaning of a word is included in the meaning of another the relationship is described as hyponymy. Hyponyms are words whose meanings are specific instances of a more general word. For example; red, blue, yellow are hyponyms of the word color. Hyponyms contain the meaning of a general word known as superordinate (or hypernym sometimes spelled as hyperonym). Thus, red, blue and yellow are hyponyms of superordinate color. Two or more words that share the same superordinate term are co-hyponyms. Thus, red, blue and yellow are co- hyponyms.

		COLOR		SUPERORDINATE
	RED	BLUE	YELLOW
	[hyponym]	[hyponym]	[hyponym]
		[co-hyponyms]

ð In general there are a number of hyponyms for each subordinate. These hyponyms contain feature value of the superordinate, but they also have additional features. For example, boar, piglet and sow contain the meaning of the superordinate pig. But they differ in their additional features, boar (male, adult), sow (female, adult), and piglet (baby pig).

ð Hyponymy is sometimes referred to as inclusion in that the meaning of a word is included in the meaning of another. If an object is a rose, then it is necessarily a flower, so the meaning of flower is included in the meaning of rose. The relationship of hyponymy captures the concept of “is a kind of” as when we give the meaning of a word by saying rose is a kind of flower, blue is a kind of color, oak is a kind of or sow is a kind of pig.

Words such as punch, shoot and stab, describing actions can all be co-hyponyms of the superordinate term injure.