ANTONYMY AS BINARY CONSTRUAL IN CONCEPTUAL SPACE

ANTONYMY AS BINARY CONSTRUAL IN CONCEPTUAL SPACE

Kostić, Nataša

This article is based on empirical investigation of intrasentential antonym functions in Serbian written discourse, which suggests that phrasal contexts in which antonyms co-occur are relatively stable and that at least some of the most frequent ones can be viewed as potential triggers of contrast relation in discourse. Starting from the notion of antonymous framework, a formulaic structure in which certain grammatical and content words systematically house both members of an antonymous pair, the article addresses the issue of whether some of the most frequent frameworks can be viewed as potential triggers of contrast relation in discourse and seeks to explain the non-canonical instances of binary semantic contrast generated in those contexts within the framework of Cognitive Semantics. The paper also attempts to explain how this contributes to our understanding of the nature of the category of antonymy in language. Theoretical framework adopted is that of Cognitive Semantics in which antonymy as a Gestalt is an instance of a bisected domain and the resulting interpretation is shaped by the construal of comparison and the profiling of a specific dimension. Examples of binary semantic contrast analyzed in the article fulfill the requirements for antonym construal: they are aligned along the same meaning dimension within a domain in which they are compared and construed as denoting contrasting concepts. Conclusions provide support to the treatment of antonymy as a conceptual relation and a linguistic category exhibiting prototypicality effects.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2016

3502