SYNONYM, ANTONYM & HYPONYM
A. SYNONYM
Synonyms are words that have the same or very similar
meaning. All words can have a synonym. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and
prepositions can have a synonym as long as both words are the same part of
speech.
Examples
of Synonyms
Adjectives: beautiful, lovely, gorgeous, stunning, striking
Nouns:
House, home, dwelling, residence, abode, quarters
Verbs: jump,
bound, leap, hop, skip
Prepositions: in, inside, within
B. ANTONYM
Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. For example,
the antonym of long is short. Often words will have more than one antonym but
as with synonyms it depends on the context. For instance, the word warm could
have the antonym cool or chilly. In order to choose the correct antonym, you
have to look at all the meanings and how the word is used. Cool can mean
stylish as well as chilly so the word cool may not be the best choice.
Types
of Antonyms
1. Graded antonyms are
word pairs that have variations between the two opposites. For example, big and
little are antonyms but there are a lot of changes before you get to the
opposite meaning. Like this:
Big, huge, bulky, full-size, slight, petite, little Other
examples are:
a.
Sane and crazy
b. Rich
and poor
c.
Cool and hot
d. Wet
and dry
e.
Late and early
f.
Ignorant and educated
2. Relational antonyms are
pairs that have a relationship. Each word wouldn’t exist without the other.
There can’t be a parent without a child or it’s either all or nothing. Other
examples include:
a.
Servant and master
b. Borrow
and lend
c.
Come and go
d. Toward
and away
e.
Divisor and dividend
f.
Parent and child
3. Complimentary antonyms are
word pairs that have no degree of meaning. There are only two opposite
possibilities. Example :
a.
Leave and arrive
b. Pre
and post
c.
Question and answer
d. Single
and married
e.
Hired and fired
f.
Brother and sister
g. Before
and after
4. Adding a Prefix
Sometimes, an antonym can be easily
made by adding a prefix.
Examples of antonyms that were made by adding the prefix “un” are:
Examples of antonyms that were made by adding the prefix “un” are:
a.
Likely and unlike
b.
Able and unable
By adding the prefix “non” you can
make these pairs:
a.
Entity and nonentity
b.
Conformist and nonconformist
Lastly, adding the prefix “in” can
make the following pairs:
a.
Tolerant and intolerant
b.
Decent and indecent
c.
Discreet and indiscreet
d.
Excusable and inexcusable
C. HYPONYM
Is the state or phenomenon that shows the
relationship between more general term, ( lexical representation) and the
more specific instances for it.
Examples:
The lexical representation of:
red, yellow, green, blue, purple, black is ( color ).
Thus we can say that: " red " is a hyponym of " color " and so on.
Examples:
Examples:
The lexical representation of:
red, yellow, green, blue, purple, black is ( color ).
Thus we can say that: " red " is a hyponym of " color " and so on.
Examples:
clarinet, guitar, piano, trumpet,
violin, are hyponyms because they are " musical instruments " but
there is not a single word meaning " musical instrument " that
has these words as its hyponyms .
