Words that are antonymous are opposite in meaning.
Such, the pair of words should be called antonymous, but one of them, which is not always just one, has a name antonym. Kinds and examples of root antonyms are observed in the second part of the Course Paper. But in the theoretical part we want to refer to a very interesting source.
In dealing with antonymic oppositions it may be helpful to treat antonyms in terms of marked and unmarked members. The unmarked member can be more widely used and very often can include the referents of the marked member but not vice versa. This proves that their meanings have some components in common. In the antonymic pair `old - young the unmarked member is old. We've found an interesting example on one of studied sources:
It is possible to ask: How old is the girl? , Without implying that she is no longer young. [76] Some authors, J.Lyons among them, suggest a different terminology. They distinguish antonyms proper and complementary antonyms. The chief characteristic feature of antonyms proper is that they are regularly gradable. Antonyms proper, therefore, represent contrary notions. Grading is based on the operation of comparison. One can compare the intensity of feeling as in love - attachment - liking - indifference - antipathy - hate. Whenever a sentence contains an antonym or an antonymic pair, it implicitly or explicitly contains comparison.
Thus, discussing the group of root antonyms, we should to speak about complementary antonyms and contrary notions, a semantic classification of antonyms.
1.2.1 Derivational Antonyms
Derivetional antonyms are more difficult to study. As we mentioned above, derivational antonyms have the same roots but different affixes.
Negative prefixes for antonyms are un-, dis-, non-, but sometimes they are formed by means of suffixes-ful and-less. The number of antonyms with the suffixes-ful and-less is not very large, eg «Successful»- «Unsuccessful», «selfless»- «Selfish». The same is true about antonyms with negative prefixes, eg «To man» is not an antonym of the word «to unman», «to disappoint» is not an antonym of the word «to appoint».
The difference between derivational and root antonyms is not only in their structure, but in semantics as well. Group of derivational antonyms express contradictory notions, one of them excludes the other, eg «Active» - «inactive». Absolute antonyms express contrary notions. If some notions can be arranged in a group of more than two members, the most distant members of the group will be absolute antonyms, eg «Ugly», «plain», «good-looking», «pretty», «beautiful», the antonyms are «ugly» and «beautiful».
Leonard Lipka in the book Outline of English Lexicology defines types of oppositeness, which we study in the next chapter of this Course Paper. Thus, we should to study now some characteristics of Semantic Classification of Antonyms.
1.3 Semantic Classification of Antonyms
Lipka is one of the linguists, who describes different types of oppositeness, and subdivides them into three types:
a) complementary, e.g. male-female, married-single,
b) antonyms, e.g. good...
