Many people remember from the school curriculum in Russian that there are words that have opposite meanings. They are called antonyms. The functions that they perform in the text will be discussed in this article.
This information may be useful to all people who are interested in the Russian language and want to replenish their knowledge about it. This information is useful to those whose work is associated with the regular writing of a large number of texts.
Why do we need antonyms?
The main function of antonyms is to give speech variety, to make it more vivid and expressive.
They are often part of such stylistic tools as the thesis and antithesis, as well as some others.
What are the functions of antonyms?
There are several of them.
Each of these will be discussed in detail in a separate section of the proposed article.
Lexical contrasts
One of the functions of antonyms in the text is the so-called antithesis (the use of words with the opposite meaning to create contrast).
She, as a rule, gives the utterance an ironic or other shade necessary for the author.
Example:
- The houses are new, but the prejudices are old (Griboedov).
Here, the great Russian writer contrasts one another with the external and internal decoration of dwellings and the low spiritual qualities of their inhabitants.
The antithesis can be of two types:
- Simple. It is also called a monomial (consisting of two words opposed to each other). The above example is an excellent illustration of it.
- Complex. It can also be called polynomial.
For example, in the following lines of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov, this function of antonyms is used.
And we hate, and we love by chance,
Without sacrificing anything to malice or love,
And some secret cold reigns in the soul, When the fire boils in blood.
A complex antithesis typically consists of several pairs of antonyms. All of them serve to express the general idea of the utterance.
Negation of the opposite
It often happens that when describing any properties of a person’s personality or the characteristics of an object or phenomenon, it becomes necessary to exclude the opposite quality in order to avoid misunderstanding. For example, calling a product inexpensive, it is sometimes specified that it is, at the same time, not very cheap. This stylistic function of antonyms often serves to express phenomena for which there is no exact definition.
So, in the famous song of Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky from the movie "Vertical" there are words:
If a friend is suddenly
And not a friend, and not an enemy, but ...
The bard uses here this technique, the opposite of antithesis. That is, it excludes contrasting qualities to describe a person. This means that the one whom it is sung of is not the friend and enemy of the lyrical hero, but something in between. To denote this phenomenon in the Russian language there is no definite word.
Such a function of antonyms in speech (denial of contrast quality) can be used if the author wants to point out the mediocrity, the ordinaryness of an object or phenomenon. A similar technique is also suitable for expressing the facelessness and unremarkability of a literary hero.
For example, in the novel Dead Souls, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol describes Chichikov as follows:
The gentleman sat in the chaise, not handsome, but not of a bad appearance, neither too fat nor too thin; it cannot be said that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young.
Such a description creates the image of a person in a reader without any bright distinctive features, faceless. Further study of the novel confirms this assumption. His main character is really trying not to show any true qualities of his character. Communicating with this or that landowner, he always tries to show himself in a favorable light, speaks and does only what is expected of him.
Preset Frames
The question "what are the stylistic functions of antonyms" can be answered as follows. They are used to limit time and space. As a rule, their use emphasizes the duration of an action, the large size of the territory, or the diversity of something.
In one of his works, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov wrote:
The rich and the poor sleep, and the wise and stupid, and the good and the fierce.
The classic of Russian literature with the help of antonyms showed in this episode the abundance of sleeping people.
Oxymoron
This Greek word can be translated into Russian as "witty-stupid." This stylistic tool involves the simultaneous use of incompatible concepts to designate the same subject.
For example: a married bachelor, the beginning of the end. Often it is used to create a comic effect. A prerequisite for such a phrase: its elements must belong to different parts of speech. Therefore, the words included in this figure of speech can only conditionally be called antonyms.
What is a pun?
A comic effect can be achieved, and if one of the antonyms has several meanings. This technique is called a pun.
Its essence will become clearer if this phenomenon is considered on a concrete example.
In their novel "The Twelve Chairs," Ilf and Petrov describe the bride of the main character of the book, Ostap Bender, as follows: "The young woman was already young." The subject "young" here is used in the meaning of "bride", but it can also mean a person of a fairly young age.
Therefore, its combination with the adjective "not young" gives the phrase a comic character.
Most common mistakes
In the above examples, the functions of the antonyms are clear. Their use is justified. But there are times when their inappropriate use leads to stylistic errors.
Here are some guidelines that can help avoid such inaccuracies.
1. Try to prevent the use of antonyms, if they are an obstacle to understanding the statement, make it difficult to comprehend the meaning.
For example, their use in the phrase "this dress is the cheapest of the most expensive" is a stylistic mistake.
2. The presence of incompatible concepts should not be allowed, as, for example, in the sentence "The road was smooth, but bumpy." The two definitions used here are not compatible with each other.
Types of Antonyms
The functions of the antonyms and their examples, found in the works of Russian writers, were given in the previous sections of the article. Now a few words should be said about their types.
So, antonyms are:
- Counter - opposite concepts. An intermediate link may exist between such pairs of antonyms. For example: Good-Medium-Bad.
- Contradictory - opposites between which there can be no transition link. For example, lies and truth.
- Conversive - these are the words that can describe a situation or object, when viewed from different points of view. So, one and the same game of tennis can be perceived both as a loss and as a victory. The choice of appropriate words depends on which of the opponents will describe this situation. In other words, reversible antonyms serve to describe the same object by different entities.
- Vector - such antonyms serve to denote the same phenomenon, object, action, and so on, depending on its orientation. For example: entry and exit.
- Paradigmatic - those concepts that are opposed to each other in the context of any philosophical concept: earth - heaven, body - soul, and so on.
Functions of Synonyms and Antonyms
This article cannot, at least briefly, touch upon another topic. It can be defined as follows: "Types and functions of synonyms and antonyms."
Quite a lot has already been said about the first of these phenomena. Therefore, it makes sense to go to the second.
So, synonyms are a category opposite to antonyms. So called words or expressions, the meaning of which coincides. They are of the following types:
- Full - interchangeable words that have the same stylistic coloring. For example, linguistics and linguistics.
- Semantic - they differ in shades of meanings. For example: speak and state. The first is more neutral, the second involves the delivery of speech with a certain degree of emotionality.
The main function of synonyms is complementing each other, clarifying the meaning, presenting the most complete picture of the events described.
Conclusion
Both synonyms and antonyms are a great way to add variety to speech. The text becomes much more interesting and brighter if it contains stylistic means. This applies to spoken, as well as written, speech (all styles). Therefore, this article presented information about synonyms and antonyms, their types and functions.