Stylistic functions of antonyms. Typical mistakes associated with the choice of antonyms. Moscow State University of Press Stylistic functions of antonyms in speech
Synonyms- words are called close or the same in meaning.
1. Absolute synonyms.
Spelling - spelling;
vyya - neck;
woodworkers - mittens;
word formation - derivatology.
2. Semantic synonyms.(the shades of the meanings are different). For example:
Red - scarlet (more specifically than red); purple (dark red, not bright); ruby (dark red, transparent); crimson (red with a purple tint).
Conversation is chatter.
Walk (neutral) - trail (colloquial) - walk (book style).
Asking (neutral) - moaning (colloquial).
For example: bunny, sun, etc.
Stylistic synonyms are words that are identical in meaning and different in stylistic coloring or have a different sphere of use. For example: a piece (film) (zag.), An excerpt (neutr.), A fragment (book); cancel (neutral), abolish, annul (book).
We define this or that word as a stylistic synonym when compared with the corresponding stylistically neutral word, therefore, in each pair of stylistic synonyms or in a row, there will certainly be a stylistically neutral word.
Stylistic synonymy is widespread among words of all parts of speech, for example: wolf - biruk, lips - mouth, forehead - forehead, rooster - coops, crimson - crimson, naked - naked, love - amorous, real - real, sleep - rest, eat - eat, cold - cold, this - this, than - rather than, how - exactly, so that - so that, etc.
Unlike semantic synonyms, among stylistic synonyms there is a large number of nouns with a specific meaning, since the same specific object in different eras in different places of its distribution could receive different names.
Stylistic synonyms are extremely heterogeneous.
Among the stylistic subgroups are distinguished: a) according to the sphere of use (neutral, bookish, colloquial, vernacular), common ones are divided into dialectal, professional, jargon. b) according to the expressive-stylistic coloring, they distinguish between neutral, common (poetic, vernacular, folk poetic, dialectivisms). c) according to the activity of use (obsolete (archaisms), active, new).
Semantic and stylistic synonyms.
Semantic-stylistic synonyms are words and their equivalents, denoting the same phenomenon of objective reality and differing not only in stylistic coloring, but also in shades of meaning common to each of them. Semantic and stylistic synonyms will be, for example, the words: horse - nag.
For example: "Their well-fed horses, shaking their scanty tails, threw them, sprinkled them with snow pieces" (Sholokhov); “The horse, an old broken nag, all covered in soap, stood rooted to the spot” (M. Gorky). The word nag means "weak" skinny, sick horse "; as emotionally colored, the word nag and stylistically opposed to the neutral word horse.
Synonyms are also the words go - trail. They mean the same action, only the word walk is stylistically neutral, the word drag is colloquial and, in addition to its general meaning, contains additional shades: to drag is to walk with difficulty, slowly, barely moving your legs.
To work and to pore are synonyms, only the word “pore” is colloquially opposed to the stylistically neutral word “work” and differs from it in shades of meaning: to pore is to work painstakingly and diligently, overcoming difficulties, mainly doing small, laborious work. For example: “But my father was busy, toiled, drove around, wrote and did not want to know anything” (Turgenev).
Total value words enemy, foe - one who is in a state of enmity with someone. In the word enemy, the meaning of hostility, intransigence is expressed more strongly than in the word enemy. The word “enemy” has a stylistic connotation, it is bookish, somewhat outdated; the word enemy is interstyle. The general meaning of the words to be afraid, to be afraid is to experience a feeling of fear, fear. In the word coward, in addition to indicating the felt feeling of fear, timidity, there is also a shade of contempt for the one who is experiencing this feeling. To be afraid is a stylistically neutral word, to be afraid is colloquial. Wed : “Don't you think that I'm afraid of you? "(Pushkin); “The people around him kept quiet: they were either cowardly or laughed at” (Turgenev); “He didn't seem like himself. With his usual sharpness, he, of course, guessed that Pugachev was unhappy with him. He was a coward in front of him, and looked at me with incredulity ”(Pushkin).
Antonyms- words with the opposite meaning.
1. Single-root antonyms.
Literate - illiterate;
Good is not good;
Symmetrical - Asymmetrical.
Multi-root antonyms.
Big small;
The concept of stylistics. The subject and tasks of practical stylistics.
Stylistics is a section of linguistics that studies the expressive means of language and the patterns of using these means in various areas of general. activities and in various situations of communication.
The object of stylistics is language. The subject of stylistics is what they say.
The main task of stylistics is the study and description of functional styles, features and stylistic properties of individual linguistic units, which combine them (within the general system of the language) into private, functionally homogeneous subsystems.
Understanding functional styles
A functional style is a historically developed and socially conscious type of literary language (its subsystem), functioning in a certain area of human activity and communication, created by the peculiarities of the use of linguistic means in this area and their specific organization
Speech errors in the text (tautology, pleonasm, contamination).
Pleonasm- the use of close ones in meaning and therefore unnecessary words (month of May);
Tautology- the use of words of the same root;
Contamination- out of 2 correct statements, one or 2 are incorrect (play a role - matter)
Ambiguous words. Homonyms.
Homonymy - i.e. coincidence in the sound and spelling of words that are different in meaning;
Ambiguity - the use of a word in different meanings.
Stylistic functions of synonyms, antonyms. Stylistic differentiation of paronyms.
Synonyms- words of the same part of speech, different in sound and spelling, but having the same or very similar lexical meaning.
Stylistic synonyms- This words that are used in different styles, but have the same meaning. The most striking illustration is the group mug - face - face... Word " erysipelas"Clearly colloquial, which has many not very intelligent vernacular options. Word " face» neutral: it has a "pass" in all styles. Word " face» bookish: most likely we will encounter him in a work of art in the case of stylization or a deliberately exalted attitude towards any of the heroes.
Antonyms- these are words of one part of speech, different in sound and spelling, having directly opposite lexical meanings: truth is a lie, good is evil, speak - be silent.
The main stylistic function of antonyms- to be a lexical means of opposition, contrasting images of natural and social phenomena, character traits, etc. Opposition as a stylistic device is widely used in colloquial and everyday phraseological units, proverbs and sayings. The semantic capacity, figurativeness of folk utterances is often created by antonyms. For example: neither alive nor dead, neither back nor forward, neither hot nor cold; Learning is light and ignorance is darkness; what I came with, so I left.
Stylistic functions of antonyms
The stylistic function is defined as the expressive potential of the interaction of linguistic means in the text, which ensures the transfer, along with the subject-logical content of the text, also the expressive, emotional, evaluative and aesthetic information embedded in it. While other branches of linguistics study the entire system of linguistic means of the corresponding level as a whole, stylistics considers their expressive qualities, their functioning and interaction in the transmission of thoughts and feelings in a given text and, therefore, their role in the ideological influence of the text on the reader.
Participating in the stylistic function stylistic means help the reader to correctly place accents and highlight the main thing, i.e. serve to protect the message from distortion. The stylistic function thus ensures the reliability of the connection and prevents misunderstanding.
A high stylistic potential lies in the use of antonyms.
The stylistic functions of antonyms are expressed in special figures of speech, which are widely used in the implementation of the aesthetic function of language. One of the most common figures based on antonymy in artistic speech is antithesis (gr. Antithesis - opposition) - a method of opposing verbal images that are contrasting in nature, revealing the contradictory essence of the signified, the incompatibility of various aspects of an object, phenomenon, or the objects and phenomena themselves. This stylistic figure enhances expressiveness due to the collision in the same context of directly opposite concepts.
The main stylistic function of antonyms is to express the opposite, which is inherent in their semantics and does not depend on the context. That is, antonyms are a lexical means of expressing an antithesis.
Antithesis as a stylistic device is widespread in folk poetry, for example, in the sayings: Score twice before you cut once. Desperate diseases call for desperate remedies. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.
Antonyms are used as a vivid means of expression in artistic speech. The writer sees life in contrasts, and this testifies not to contradiction, but to the integrity of his perception of reality.
The opposite function can be used for different stylistic purposes: to indicate the limit of quality manifestation; to actualize a statement or enhance an image, an impression; for the approval of two opposite properties, qualities, actions; for the recognition of a certain average, intermediate quality, property, etc.
Antonyms - designations of opposite principles are widely used as a stylistic device for designating the contradictory essence of phenomena, the dialectic of life. “To say that a person consists of strength and weakness, of understanding and blinding, of insignificance and greatness,” wrote D. Diderot, “does not mean to condemn him, but to define his essence”.
The antithesis reveals the contradictory essence of the signified, the incompatibility of various aspects of an object, phenomenon, or the objects and phenomena themselves. This stylistic figure enhances expressiveness due to the collision in the same context of directly opposite concepts. This phenomenon is widely observed in works of art. For example, Jack London "White Fang":
It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity at the futility of life and effort of life. - This is the eternal wisdom - imperious, ascended over the world - laughed, seeing the futility of life, the futility of struggle.
It moved with commingled mistrust and daring, cautiously observing the men, its attention fixed on the dogs. - He approached cowardly and at the same time impudently, directing all his attention to the dogs, but not losing sight of the people.
What masterful treachery lurked behind that apparently harmless piece of meat. - What deceit lurks in this harmless piece of meat.
Publicists often refer to the antithesis, often in titles literary works, various kinds of articles, notes: “Paris day and night” (A. Kuleshova). Opposition enhances the emotionality of speech. Many titles of works are based on the principle of antithesis: "War and Peace"; "The Living and the Dead". Antonymy is especially often used in the headlines of newspaper and magazine articles: "Chemistry, good and evil."
The opposite of the antithesis is the method of denying the contrasting features of the object: “In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, not too fat, not too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not so that he was too young ”(Gogol). This stringing of antonyms with negation emphasizes the ordinariness of what is described, the lack of bright, clearly expressed signs.
In T. Good's poem “November”, fourteen lines out of fifteen contain only one-part negative constructions starting with the negation no.
No sun - no moon! No morn - no noon!
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day -
No sky - no earthly view -
No distance looking blue ...
The monotonous series of stubbornly repeating negative constructions conveys the monotony and boredom of autumn.
The stylistic contrast effect created by antonyms, which is a very effective means of increasing expressiveness, is used not only in fiction and journalism, but also in stable phrases, for example: The long and the short of it; from top to toe; neither here nor there.
The phenomenon of antonymy lies at the basis of oxymoron (from the gr. Oxymoron - witty-stupid) - a bright stylistic device of figurative speech, consisting in creating a new concept by combining words that are contrasting in meaning, revealing the inconsistency of what is described. For example: And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true (A. Tennyson).
In English poetry and prose, the oxymoron is found at all times. E. Spencer wrote in the 16th century: And painful pleasure turns to pleasing pain.
The largest modern poet V. Auden in his poem "On the Death of Yates" writes:
With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse,
Sing of human unsuccess
In a rapture of distress.
A rapture of distress is an oxymoron. The violation of lexical compatibility in this case is caused by the contrast of semantic agreement: the rapture :: distress pair has common semes, but at the same time contains opposing semes. Both words - rapture and distress - express a very strong experience, but in the first case, delight, admiration is an extremely pleasant emotion, and the second word - grief, distress - expresses the highest degree of suffering.
An oxymoron is widely used in the characterological function. Thus, the English poet and critic S. Spencer, seeing a contradictory character in the image of the Roma hero E. Hemingway “Fiesta” Jake, calls him “self-consciously unself-conscious, boastfully modest and he-man”.
In colloquial oxymorons like terribly smart, awfully beautiful, etc. semantic agreement may be completely absent, since the first component has completely lost its lexical denotative meaning, retaining and strengthening the connotation of expressiveness.
An intentional collision of logically and semantically opposite concepts is an effective technique. It tunes readers to the perception of contradictory, complex phenomena, and often - and the struggle of opposites.
The stylistic functions of antonyms are not limited to the expression of contrast, they are diverse. In one case, they constructively organize the text, in the other, they contrast with the characters of the heroes of the works, in the third, they act as a clarifying function. For example, the antonyms inside - outside (outside), right (right) - left (left) are used to express spatial or temporal relationships in the text. Temporal antonyms indicate a sequence of events: at the beginning - in the end. Location antonyms emphasize the scale of the scenes. Revealing the characters of the heroes, the authors use antonyms expressing the qualitative opposition of concepts (evaluative nouns, qualitative adjectives: enemy - friend, poor - rich).
Antonyms, as designations of opposite principles, help writers to show the completeness of the coverage of phenomena: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, ..., we had everything before us , we had nothing before us ... ”(Dickens's novel“ A tale of Two Cities ”).
Some antonymic pairs appear in speech as a lexical unity, acquiring a phraseological character: both old and young, and both, sooner or later. Their use brings colloquial connotations into artistic speech.
When antonyms collide, speech often takes on an ironic connotation. Puns are built on antonyms: Where is the beginning of that end by which the beginning ends? - Where is the beginning of the end with which the beginning ends?
Studying the stylistic use of antonyms in artistic speech, it should be borne in mind that their expressive capabilities are realized not only with direct opposition, but also in the case when any member of the antonymic pair is absent in the text. Due to their stable connections, antonyms are perceived in speech against the background of their "counter-terms". The use of antonyms in speech should be stylistically motivated.
Thus, the stylistic functions of antonyms are varied. They express the opposite, denote the contradictory essence of phenomena, the dialectic of life, and this opposition enhances the emotionality of speech, sometimes helps in creating ironic shades. Also, the clash of conflicting concepts sets off the characters of the heroes of the works, constructively organizes the text, shows the sequence of events, emphasizes the scale of the scenes, the completeness of the coverage of the phenomena. Their use makes speech more expressive and semantically richer.
Antonyms
general characteristics
Antonyms are words that are opposite in lexical meaning, which must belong to the same part of speech. (semantic difference). ( concrete - abstract, abstract).
Individual meanings of polysemous words can enter into antonymic relations. ( day"Part of the day" - night, day "day, date" has no antonyms. Different meanings of the same word may have different antonyms. Nr, close with the meaning "located at a short distance" - distant, close "blood connected" - alien, close "similar" - different. Polysemantic sl. may have one antonym, which has several meanings. Nr, upper with the meanings "located at the top", "close to the upper reaches of the river" - lower (upper step - lower, upper flow - lower).
Any words can be opposed in speech:
- close in value (scientists a lot of , smart few…)
Words bound in the minds of the speakers contiguity association: brother and sister, sun and moon.
The stylistic potential of antonyms
The main function is anton. - an expression of the opposite. This feature can be used for a variety of stylistic purposes:
to indicate the limit of manifestation of quality, property, relationship, action: “a person needs little to searched and found so that we have to start with friend one and enemy one"
to actualize a statement or enhance an image, impression, etc .: “it looked like a clear evening: no day, no night, no light, no darkness»
to express the assessment of the opposite properties of objects, actions, etc.: "... one old man, completely minor, was worthy of my romance than all these great people..»
Built on a sharp opposition of antonyms antithesis. It can be simple (single-term): the strong always have the powerless to blame and difficult : and we hate, and we do not love. Sacrificing nothing for malice or love... The antithesis can be traced in the titles of artistic works, headlines of newspaper articles.
Antonymy underlies oxymoron - a stylistic technique consisting in creating a new concept by combining words that are contrasting in meaning: expensive cheapness and at the core pun:where is the beginning of that end.
Using one of the antonyms while the other should have been used: splitting clever you are delirious... Using a word in its opposite meaning - antiphrasis.
Antonyms can be expressed when any member a is absent in the text. couples : the face is dark, but clean; his height is average or less ...
Errors when using antonyms
Using anton. in speech must be motivated. A combination of mutually exclusive attributes of the subject should be avoided: the road is straight, albeit winding... Antonymic pairs should be made up logically; incomparable concepts cannot be compared.
Errors in constructing the antithesis: this book is about love and joy, hate, suffering and sorrow(violation of the enumeration sequence).
Addicting anton. justified if it really reflects the dialectical unity of the surrounding life. Sometimes anton. do not reflect real opposition and are perceived as a stencil: big troubles of small business.
Consuming an unsuccessful oxymoron: "hot permafrost" - the headline of an article on coal mining in the Arctic. An unmotivated oxymoron manifests itself as a result of connections of incompatible concepts : in the absence of materials.
Sometimes involuntary pun- the reason for the inappropriate comedy of the statement, the cat. arises as a result of the antonymy of ambiguous words, unnoticed by the author: the old portfolio of the father was still new.
Inappropriate anphrasis, those. the use of its antonym instead of the desired word can distort the meaning of the utterance: the difficulty was knowing the language(it is necessary in ignorance).
Errors in constructing an antonymic pair : they live actively, they are not spies of life(spies - people secretly observing smb., it is necessary - contemplators, idle observers).
The regularity of the anton. Relations of words does not allow their use outside of opposition. The collision of antonyms in speech is the cause of the pun: slit is a bottleneck commonly found in construction.
Typology of antonyms
By their structure, antonyms are heterogeneous. Some are multi-root (actually lexical) : black is white, life is death.
Other single-root (lexicogrammatic) : calm - restless... In single-rooted anton. the opposite meaning is due to the addition of semantically different prefixes, cat. can enter into antonymic relations with each other. In this case, the lexical antonymy is a consequence word-formation processes... single-rooted antognims are found among all lexical and grammatical categories of words. Verbs-antonyms are especially active, because they are distinguished by a wealth of prefixed formations in-, behind-, from-, under-, etc. single-root adjective antonyms and noun antonyms are often formed with the help of foreign-language derivational elements: a-, de-, anti, micro-, dis-, etc. Single-root a .:
antonyms-enantiosemes(the meaning of the opposite is expressed by the same word). Such antonymy intraword. The semantic possibilities of such an antonym are implemented using the context (lexically) or special constructions (syntactically): make a reservation ( accidentally ) "To be wrong" make a reservation(intentionally) "make a reservation."
antonyms-euphemisms- words expressing the semantics of the opposite with restraint, softly. Formed with the prefix non-.
Antonyms-conversions - multi-root ant., words expressing the opposite in both the original and the modified utterance in reverse order: Peter comes to Sergey - Sergey goes away from Peter.
Antonymic dictionaries
For a long time there were no special dictionaries of antonyms. In 1971. 2 dictionaries were published a. In the “Dictionary of a. russ. Yaz. " L. Vvedenskaya explained 862 antonymic pairs. All interpretations are supplied with numerous examples from works (artistic, scientific, newspaper and journalistic). The dictionary includes a theoretical section, which highlights issues related to lexical antonymy.
In N. Kolesnikov's dictionary, more than 1300 antonyms and various oppositions are explained. It does not fully illuminate single-root antonyms. His dictionary includes many terms that exist in pairs: vocalism-consonantism.
In the “Dictionary of a. Russian Yaz. " M. Lvova, L. Novikova, the interpretation of the meanings of antonymic pairs is given through the presentation of word combinations with these words and examples in the texts. In special sections of the dictionary, the main methods of the formation of single-rooted antons are indicated. , the derivational elements of antonymic character are listed In the "School Dictionary A." M Lvov explains the most common antonyms. When determining the meanings, the polysemy of words is taken into account, synonymous pairs are given, style notes are given.
Paronyms, and partly unrelated, but similar in sounding words, perform different stylistic functions in speech.
Each author may face the problem of choosing one of the paronyms. If synonymous selection of lexical means invariably accompanies verbal creativity, then the problem of choosing one of the paronyms arises only in cases when paronymic words are included in speech.
The skillful use of paronyms helps the writer correctly and accurately express a thought, it is paronyms that reveal great opportunities of the Russian language in the transmission of subtle semantic shades. For example, here is how A.S. Pushkin introduced paronyms into the speech of the tsar in the drama Boris Godunov: I thought to calm my people in contentment, to calm them down in glory, to win their love with generosity; I showered them with gold, I found work for them - they cursed me, raging,(to gain - to earn, to acquire something, to find - to find). In such cases, one should talk about the hidden use of paronyms, since the reader sees in the text only one of these words, the choice of which could have been preceded by the author's work with paronyms, comparing them, and analyzing their semantic shades. Reading the final, edited text, we can only guess about the great work of the writer, whose paronymic words could cause doubts and hesitations.
In artistic speech, the correct, very skillful use of paronyms is usually observed. For example, in Pushkin one can find many examples illustrating the normative use of the "sick." words that are still mixed in common parlance: Wearing a wide bolivar, Onegin drives to the boulevard; An azure, lush sundress dressed Lyudmila with a slender figure. However, it is also possible for the writer to deliberately deviate from the norm if he wants to show the speech errors of his characters. So, G. Nikolaeva reflected the confusion of paronyms characteristic of colloquial speech in a replica of one of the characters: In the house of the collective farmer, a quick, city-dressed man looked at her ID and said to the pretty girl: "Nadia, take the trip out." In the author's speech on the next page, we find the correct usage: sent cadets are provided with a hostel ("Harvest"). Thus, the hidden use of paronyms in artistic speech can be based on various aesthetic principles of their selection, dictated by the stylistic setting of the author.
The open use of paronyms is of a different nature, when the writer puts them side by side, showing their semantic differences at an apparent similarity. In this case, paronyms perform various stylistic functions, acting as a means of enhancing the effectiveness of speech.
The clash of paronyms is used to highlight the corresponding concepts, for example: Young Turgenevs personify honor and honesty(M. Map.). The combination of paronyms in such cases creates a tautological and sound repetition, which contributes to their reinforcement, for example: No, die. It would never be better to be born Than this mournful, pitiful, convict howl / About black-browed beauties. - Oh, and the soldiers are singing today! Oh my god you are my!(Colored) The same stylistic effect is generated by a combination of unrelated similar-sounding words that are semantically similar: They cleansed, communed, conquered and soared, Those that defended the walls, Immuting into the same walls(F. Iskander. Conquerors).
The use of paronyms can be a means of clarifying thoughts: Are you all the same, other virgins, Having replaced you, have not replaced you?(P.) Sometimes it is enough for the author to pay attention to various lexical collocation paronyms to clarify their meaning: A writer who knows the language of his people will not confuse wasteland and wasteland: the wasteland is plowed up, and the wasteland is built up(Yugov A. Dumas about the Russian word. - M., 1975. - S. 27).
It is possible to compare paronyms if the author wants to show subtle semantic differences between them: I do not like the plasticity of the dancers' brushes. She is mannered ... she has more beauty than beauty(Mill.). Not only paronyms are compared, but also not related, but similar words in sound: Sang and drank with love for science(High); Perestroika threatens to escalate into a firefight; Some fight, others steal(from gas.). She is all in white, white, white, and I - in the past(from the song). The more unexpected the comparison, the brighter the sound coloration of the word, which gives the statement a special expression. For example: No need to divide Europe into NATO and HE-NATO! (Out of gas.)
Poets love to bring together the most "inappropriate" words, surprising us with their imagination: Poor master! Drop your pencil, crawl to the backwater as soon as possible, grow your gills and tail, for the path from Plato to plankton and from Phidias to mussels is simple(Matv.).
A striking stylistic effect is created by the opposition of paronyms: I am disturbed by meetings in vain, which is neither heart nor mind, and that is not festivity, but idleness, in my guest house(Eut.). Usually, in this case, paronyms are connected by an adversarial union and one of the consonant words is given with negation: I wanted to live the fastest. I longed for deeds, not deeds. But where is he, real success, success, and not success ?!(Eut.)
Unrelated consonant words are also contrasted: Not a firm, but a form; Now he was carried away not by sports, but by alcohol("ЛГ") The seeming illogicality of the convergence of similar words makes the statement especially effective. Paronyms and even more often consonant unrelated words are used in puns; Monument to the first printer(I. and P.); The search for the escaped groom did not succeed("LG"); "Widow Clicquot" clicks to the table(OK.). In this case, one of the consonant words is often assigned an unusual meaning based on a false etymologization. One of the words played out may be absent in the text, but we certainly remember it under the influence of sound associations: ripping off essays, feigned actors, a worm of conceit, a refresher of old romances, bodies of bygone days(St.), an idiotic figure, a country pose, a well-known duplicist, was missing, in a distorted sense, talent torments, a plein meeting, a water lecture.
Synonyms
The most important stylistic function of synonyms is to be a means of the most accurate expression of thought. The surrounding phenomena and objects, their properties, qualities, actions, states are cognized by us with all their features, the concept is called the word most suitable for expressing the desired meaning. This is how a series of synonyms arise that allow us to detail the description of the phenomena of reality with the utmost precision.
Working on the vocabulary of their works, writers choose from a variety of semantically close words the one that most faithfully conveys the desired shade of meaning; working with synonyms reflects the creative position of the writer, his attitude to the depicted. You can study the options for stylistic editing of literary texts using the author's drafts and different editions: I have never become a slave of my beloved woman, on the contrary: I have always acquired an invincible power over their will and heart ... or did I just fail to meet a woman with a stubborn (stubborn) character? The semantic shades that distinguish the synonyms stubborn-obstinate indicate the preference of the former. In the story "Maxim Maksimych", when describing the portrait of Pechorin, the following synonymous substitution is made: ... His soiled (dirty) gloves seemed to be deliberately stitched over his little aristocratic hand... Lermontov considered the word dirty inappropriate in the context.
A.S. Pushkin, describing Dubrovsky's impression of a meeting with a hostile Troekurov, first used the following words: I noticed the evil smile of the enemy, but then he replaced two of them with synonyms: ... the poisonous smile of his enemy. This correction made the statement more accurate.
All these are cases hidden use of synonyms, because in the text itself there are no synonyms as such. We see already stylistically processed material, where words are used in strict accordance with their meaning and emotionally expressive coloring, but each word can mean a synonymous row of competing words, from which the author chose the most appropriate. And only the study of manuscripts introduces us to the writer's creative laboratory, allows us to trace how the vocabulary was selected.
Various stylistic functions in speech are synonymous with open their use, that is, when using several synonyms in the text at the same time. Synonyms can perform the function of clarification in speech. The use of synonyms that complement each other allows you to more fully express your thought ( He seemed to be lost a little, as if he had fallen off.- T.). One of the synonyms in such cases may be accompanied by words that emphasize its meaning ( It so happened that an uncommunicative, even unsociable artist ended up with the Nevredimovs.-S.-Ts.). Synonyms are also used in the function of clarification [I use it (the word "ordinary") in the sense in which it means; ordinary, trivial, familiar. - T.]. When using special vocabulary, foreign words, archaisms that may be incomprehensible to the reader, writers often explain them with synonyms ( Anarchy began, that is, anarchy... - S.-S.). As a rule, highly specialized terms in popular science literature are explained with synonyms (These random, or, as they say, peculiar, velocities are measured in the disk by a few tens of kilometers per second).
Synonyms can be used to compare the concepts they denote; in this case, the author draws attention to the differences in their semantics (invite a doctor, and call a paramedic. -Ch.).
In special cases, synonyms perform the function of opposition (He, in fact, did not walk, but dragged himself, without raising his feet from the ground. - Kupr.).
The most important stylistic function of synonyms is the function of substitution, when it is necessary to avoid repeating words (the Oryol man lives in cheesy aspen huts ... A Kaluga quitrent man lives in spacious pine huts. - T.).
Words close in meaning that do not belong to synonyms also help to diversify speech (Lord Byron had the same opinion; Zhukovsky said the same. - P.). The need to avoid repeating words is especially common when transmitting a dialogue. Various verbs are used to denote the fact of speech (... - I am sincerely glad, - he began. (...) - I hope, my dear Evgeny Vasilich, that you will not get bored with us, - Nikolai Petrovich continued. (...) - So well, Arkady, - Nikolai Petrovich spoke again. (...) - Now, now, - his father picked up. - T.). Choosing new words to denote similar concepts, writers do not mechanically replace one word with another, but take into account their various semantic and expressive shades.
Analyzing the various stylistic functions of synonyms, it should be remembered that due to stable connections within synonymy, reflecting systemic relations in the vocabulary, each word that has a synonym is perceived in speech in comparison with other words of the synonymous series. Expressively colored words are, as it were, “projected” onto their stylistically neutral synonyms. For example, encountering colloquial words in Bazarov's speech in the novel "Fathers and Sons" by I. S. Turgenev, the reader mentally compares them with stylistically neutral ones, noting the hero's democratic style of speech. So, Bazarov explains to a peasant boy: If you get sick and I will have to treat you ... (and not get sick); And tomorrow I'm leaving for my father (and not for my father).
The choice of synonyms in fictional speech depends on the peculiarities of the style of the writer. In this regard, A. M. Peshkovsky wrote: "Quite often the choice of one or another synonym by the author is possible only when considering this text against the background of the entire work or even all the works of the given author."
Synonymy creates ample opportunities for the selection of lexical means, but the search for the exact word is very difficult for the author. Sometimes it is not easy to determine how exactly synonyms differ, what they express semantic or emotionally expressive shades. And it is not at all easy to choose from a multitude of words the only correct, necessary one.
Antonyms
Antonymy, reflecting the essential side of systemic connections in vocabulary, covers words opposed in meaning: truth is a lie, good is evil, speak is silent. Modern lexicology considers synonymy and antonymy as extreme, limiting cases of interchangeability and opposition of words in terms of their content. At the same time, if for synonymous relations semantic similarity is characteristic, then for antonymic relations - semantic difference. The existence of antonyms in language is due to the nature of our perception of reality in all its contradictory complexity, in the unity and struggle of opposites. Therefore, contrasting words, as well as the concepts they denote, are closely related to each other. The word good evokes in our minds the word evil, far reminds of the word close, accelerate - about slow down. The names of such phenomena and objects, which are correlative, belong to the same category of objective reality as mutually exclusive concepts, are antonymized. It follows from this that antonyms not only mutually deny, but at the same time also presuppose each other.
Antonyms pair up in contrast. However, this does not mean that a particular word can have only one antonym. Synonymous word relations allow expressing the opposition of concepts in an "open", polynomial series (compare: concrete - abstract - abstract, cheerful - sad - sad - dull - boring - abrupt). This approach to the study of antonyms forces us to reconsider the widespread opinion that antonyms form closed pairs of words.
In modern science, the phenomenon of antonymy is considered as a special additional characteristic of the lexical meaning of a word. However, in speech, any words can be opposed, sometimes even very close in meaning. For example, in Pushkin: There are many scientists, few smart ones, darkness familiar, but no friend... This juxtaposition of words in context does not make them antonyms.
Antonyms are used as a vivid means of expression in artistic speech. The writer sees life in contrasts, and this testifies not to contradiction, but to the integrity of his perception of reality.
Functions
The main stylistic function of antonyms is to be a lexical means of expressing the antithesis. Antithesis as a stylistic device is widespread in folk poetry, for example, in proverbs: Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness; Lay softly, but hard to sleep. Classic examples of antithesis are given by the Russian fiction: You are rich, I am very poor. You are a prose writer, I am a poet. You are blush like poppies, I am like death and skinny and pale(NS.); Farewell, unwashed Russia, the land of slaves, the land of masters, And you, blue uniforms, and you, the people obedient to them(L.); I see sad eyes, I hear cheerful speech(ACT.).
The antithesis is simple (single-term) - The strong always have the powerless to blame(Cr.) And complex (polynomial) - And we hate, and we love by chance, without sacrificing anything either to malice or love, And some kind of secret cold reigns in the soul, when the fire boils in blood(L.). Several antonymic pairs may be involved in a complex antithesis.
Antonyms contribute to the disclosure of the contradictory essence of objects, phenomena [ You are poor, you are abundant, you are powerful, you are powerless, mother Russia(N.); Now serious, now funny, it doesn't matter whether it is raining or snowing - he is coming, holy and sinful, Russian miracle man(Tward.)].
Publicists often refer to the antithesis ( There are no intermediate tones, pale colors in the war, everything is brought to an end - great and despicable, black and white... - Eren.). The use of antonyms gives publicistic speech bright expression. So, A.N. Tolstoy wrote during the Great Patriotic War: Our land has swallowed up a lot of hordes of rapists who came to it. In the west, empires arose and perished. From great to small, from rich to beggars. Our homeland expanded and grew stronger, and no enemy force could shake it.
Opposition enhances the emotionality of speech. It is no coincidence that antonymy underlies many aphorisms [ The darker the night, the brighter than a star (Mike.); The houses are new, but the prejudices are old(Gr.); I'm sad because you're having fun(L.); That heart won't learn to love that is tired of hating(N.); How few roads have been traveled, how many mistakes have been made(EU); Your doors are wide open, and your soul is locked(High); But almost at the edge of the coffin I believe: the time will come - the Force of meanness and malice Will overcome the spirit of good(Paste.)].
Many titles of works are constructed according to the principle of antithesis ["War and Peace" (Ya. T.); "Days and nights", "The living and the dead" (Sim.)]. Antonymy is especially often used in the headlines of newspaper and magazine articles [“Chemistry is good and evil”, “Income and expenses”, “The dead system does not hear living people”, “Retro and modernity are near”, “Seeing off tragic and funny”, “Geography - different, biographies - similar "," Poverty with wealth "," Maxi passion for mini-football ").
The opposite of the antithesis is the technique of denying contrasting signs in an object: In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking either, not too fat, not too thin; you cannot say that he is old, but not that he is too young(G.). This stringing of antonyms with negation emphasizes the ordinariness of what is described, the lack of vivid qualities, clearly expressed signs. This use of antonyms makes it possible to indicate concepts that do not have a precise definition in the language, for example: If a friend suddenly turned out to be neither a friend nor an enemy, but so ...(High)
Strong expression is created by the use of one of the members of an antonymic pair with negation: Who you will become - I will not guess. The world has not grown old - it has grown younger: in the vastness of the Motherland, there are many large and small things everywhere(Vic.). Such a combination of antonyms strengthens, emphasizes the meaning of one of them, used without negation; At the same time, speech redundancy performs a constructive function - it serves as a means of updating the concept to which the author wants to pay special attention: Alive, not dead, the demon in me(Colored).
The phenomenon of antonymy lies at the basis of oxymoron (from the gr. Oxymoron - witty-stupid) - a bright stylistic device of figurative speech, consisting in creating a new concept by combining words that are contrasting in meaning. The combination of antonyms in "pure form" in oxymoron is rare ["The beginning of the end" (title of the article), "Bad good man"(Title of the film), In the midst of a period of stagnation ... (From gas.)]. In most cases, words that have the opposite meaning are combined as defined and defining [“Big little things”, “Expensive cheapness”, “Inconvenient amenities” (headings)] (noun and adjective), therefore they cannot be considered antonyms in the exact meaning of the term (antonyms must belong to the same part of speech).
Bright oxymorons were created by Russian poets [I love the lush wilting of nature (P.); Oh, how painfully happy you are (P.); But their ugly beauty, I soon grasped the mystery (L.); Poor luxury attire (N.); With impudent modesty he looks into the eyes (Bl.); Look, it is fun for her to be sad, so smartly naked (Ahm.); Mother! Your son is perfectly ill! (Lighthouse.); The time has come for the omniscient ignoramuses (Vys.)]. Oxymoron is often found in the titles of works of art ["Living Relics" (T.), "Optimistic Tragedy" (Vishn.)], In the headings of articles ("Complex simplicity" :, "Cold - hot season", "Awakened silence", " Loud whisper of anecdote "," Unofficial about the official "," Retreat forward ").
The stylistic functions of antonyms are not limited to the expression of contrast, opposition. Antonyms help writers to show the completeness of the scope of phenomena [And it's too late to wish, everything has passed: both happiness and sorrow (Vl. Soloviev); Before him, the crowd fled, Belief and fiction divulged (P.)], the breadth of the time boundaries [The troops go day and night, They become unable to (P.)]. The use of antonyms in this stylistic function sometimes leads to the stringing of antonymic pairs (The color palette of human characters has no boundaries. There are people good and evil, brave and cowardly, smart and narrow-minded, beautiful and ugly, healthy and sick, cheerful and gloomy, old and young , direct and secretive, frank and cunning. -N. Ch.).
Some antonymic pairs appear in speech as a lexical unity, acquiring a phraseological character: both old and young, and both, sooner or later. Their use introduces colloquial intonations into artistic speech; We will not overreach, so we will break through, We will be alive - we will not die, The time will come, we will return back. What we gave - we will return everything (Tward.).
Comparison of antonyms can reflect the alternation of actions, the change of phenomena observed in life [ At 7 o'clock the human tide, at 17 o'clock - low tide(Lighthouse.); Let's make up. And we will quarrel. And again you will not fall asleep. We will add our insomnia into a solid white night (R.)], indicate a rapid change of actions (A clear lightning flashed in the distance, flared up and went out ... - Bl.).
When antonyms collide, speech often acquires an ironic connotation; humorist writers often use comic antitheses [The most distant point on the globe is close to something, and the closest point is far from something (KP); An unripe pineapple is always worse for a fair person than a ripe currant.(K. P.)].
Puns are built on antonyms: Where is the beginning of the end that ends with the beginning?(K. P.) It was so late it was too early(Solzh.). In such cases, wordplay arises due to the use of polysemantic words that do not act as antonyms in all meanings (cf. The young woman was no longer young.-AND. and P.).
A special stylistic device is the use of one of the antonyms, while the meaning should have been used by the other. For example: Cleavage, clever, are you delirious, head?(Cr.) The word smart is said in a mockery of the Donkey, and the reader understands that behind this definition is his antonym - stupid. The use of a word in the opposite sense is called antifrasis. Antifrasis is often found in texts permeated with the author's irony, for example, in the "Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikifirovich" by N. V. Gogol: Two respectable men, the honor and decoration of Mirgorod, quarreled among themselves; ... Then the process proceeded with extraordinary speed, for which the courts are usually so famous.
A sharp satirical effect is created by the antonymic replacement of one of the components in stable phrases: "Bureau of malicious services", "Debt by payment is black" (titles of feuilletons). In such combinations, the "illogicality" of the statement is especially noteworthy, since the linguistic form of phraseological units dictates the use of the opposite word in meaning.
Studying the stylistic use of antonyms in artistic speech, it should be borne in mind that their expressive capabilities are realized not only with direct opposition, but also in the case when any member of the antonymic pair is absent in the text. Due to their stable connections, antonyms are perceived in speech against the background of their "counter-terms". For example, reading the description of Pugachev's appearance in Alexander Pushkin's "The Captain's Daughter", we note the special expressiveness of words that have antonymic pairs: He has a swarthy face, but clean, sharp eyes and fearful gaze; the beard and hair on the head are black; its growth is average or less; although wide in the shoulders, it is very thin in the lower back- the reader mentally distinguishes each of the selected words from a possible antonym. This is where the systemic connections of words in vocabulary are manifested.
