lexical and semantie relations

120 LEXICAL MEA I G
not tall
----------~--------~
~ _ ~
short tall
Figure 6.3 Height scale (preliminary version)
Gordon is short becau e he could have an unremarkable height in lead. Thu tall
and short con titute a contrary pair. Some author (e.g. Lyon 1977, Cru e 1986)
re erve the name antonym for preci ely thi type of scalar (or gradable) contrary
relation.
Cornplementary (alo cali ed contradictory) antonym are tho e for which
the assertion of one entails the negation of the other and vice versa, a in (17).
(17) a.
b.
That integer i even. ~ That integer i not odd.
That integer is not odd. ~ That integer i even.
In other word, the en e of complementary antonym completely bi ect some
domain: every integer is either odd or even; there is no midd1e ground.
ot all adjectival antonyms fit o nicely into the e categories. So-called gradable
complementaries, like dishonest/honest, lie between complementarity and
contrariety. They seem to contradict each other (X is not honest entaii X is
dishonest, and vice versa), but a middle ground seem to exi t, ince we can
a sert that ome person is neither honest nor dishonest. Even cla ic examples
of complementarity, like dead/alive, sometimes take on gradable qualitie (e.g.
he 's more dead than alive).
Cont.rariety and complementarity are of ten discussed with reference to adjectives
( ee also chapter ll), although we can find contrary and complementary
antonym in other part of speech. For example, Love/hale (noun or verb) are
contrarie ,wherea the verb stay/go are in a complementary relation.
Converse antonym describe the same relation or activity from different perspectives,
and follow pattern like: if X i p to Y, then Y i q to X. Sometime
one need to make adju tments to thi te t pattern in order to form a grarnrnatical
sentence, a the examples in (18) how. For example ince Bill (X) i a parent
(P) to Madeline (Y), Madeline (Y) i a child (q) of Bill' (X). In other word,
Bill and Madeline have. a relationship, and Bilľs position in the relationship is
parent, and Madeline' i child.
(18) a.
b.
c.
Bill i Madeline's parent. ~ Madeline is Bilľs child.
John gives to Oxfam. ~ Oxfam receives from John.
Scotland i above England. ~ England is below Scotland.
Reversíve oppo ite involve the undoing of some action: tie/untie, con truction/demolition.
Conver e and rever ive antonym can be collected, along with
other mi cellaneou example (e.g. come/go), in a general category of directional
antonyms.
Some word pairs that an
categorie . For example, le
but they are not different p
that typically co-occur. (1
semantics to the tudents
Other pairs of word that
minirnally different (they a
in being alcoholic/non-alo
the e to be proper antonyn
entailment relation like c
Some of these types of al
ness are nece sarily binary
or a relation with two per p
more generally in larger cr
ha to be adapted to allow
(19):
(19) a.
b.
That ace i a clul
That ace i not a
Determine whether the follo
converse, or no ne of these. E
a. fast/slow
b. student/teacher
c. clean/dirty
d. female/male
e. [eminine/masculu
Is antonymy a
Finally, there i the que ti
emantic relation or al o a I
of the word are relevant la
to be particularly lexical, Il
hould not make much diff
But a k anyone what the or
intuition is backed up by th
but large and Little do not (
for in tance, dead/alive ee
seems "better" than rise/des.
ju t meaning may come intr