denoting one and the same referent from different points of view (to sell-
to buy, to give to receive).
Derivational antonyms may be affixal (happy-unhappy, logical-
illogical) or suffixal (hopeful-hopeless).
It is not always possible to replace a word by its opposite. Where it
is possible you may notice that some words have several opposites depending
on the context.
The opposite of “old”, for example, can be “new” or “young” depending
on the situation.
WORDS THAT ARE THEIR OWN OPPOSITES
There are some antonyms that are called auto-antonyms - words that
have two opposite meanings. For example, to "clip" may mean to cut a little
piece off, or to put a little piece on. To "look over" may mean careful
scrutiny or that you missed an important detail. Sometimes the antonymy may
be historical: "nice" used to denote an unpleasant quality. There is a
discussion of whether any generalities could be made about such pairs. Are
they regularly motivated, or always a coincidence? Meanwhile, here are more
auto-antonyms that got left out of last post: One auto-antonym is "moot",
which at once means "suitable for debate" and "not worth discussing".
Impregnable: able to impregnated or inable to be pregnated,
cope(s)mate: used to mean antagonist and now means partner or comrade, It
turns out that they were having a week celebrating "fence-setters",
evidently another term for what is calling auto-antonyms. BRUCE NEVIN
reminds us of an intercontinental auto-antonym pair: "public school" in
Britain is "private school" in the USA and vice versa.
Infer: historically (and now, informally) this means "imply" as well.
Rent, lease: several pointed out to me that these means both lend and
borrow. In addition, Chinese operates similarly with respect to this pair,
and WOLFGANG LIPP notes a similar auto-antonymy to represent "give" and
"take" in pronunciation but not in writing.
Learn/teach: in "sub" - Standard English, these two meanings fuse into
“learn”, as they do in standard Russian “uchit'” Here is “sensitive”: this
may describe either someone with profound understanding for the feelings of
others, and tolerates differences of opinion (thus "sensitivity training"
for group leaders) as well as a paranoid who doesn't listen to what people
are really saying, and decides to take everything as a personal insult.
Hole/whole: Spelled the first way, an entire absence of matter; the
second, entire presence. This reminds me of "pit" which can be either a
hollow or the stone of a fruit. Which reminds me of "seeded" oranges
(insert your favourite fruit here) - oranges with seeds (as opposed to
navel oranges, which have no seeds), OR oranges that have had their seeds
removed. If you think you're beginning to see some patterns here, you're
not alone! There were received a few theories on the ultimate essence of
auto-antonymy, historical, psychological, and sociological approaches.
These theories show that auto-antonymy comes about for a variety of
reasons.
“I've been enjoying the discussion of words that are their own
antonyms.
At first I thought the classic example of Latin Altus "high" or "deep"
might fit in, but as I thought about it I figured it was just unmarked
for point of view (say when cleaning out an empty swimming pool then
"Deep" becomes "high") so I just looked to see if it was on the list and
got a comment. No. Good. But one that I have long wondered about is
"risk" as in "he risked winning the game". I was shocked (as a teenager)
the first time I saw "he risked losing the game" (or something like that)
in print, because I previously thought (and am still inclined toward)
the complement of risk being the desirable result, not the undesirable
one. Whether or not this fits into this discussion, I wonder if anyone
else has had a similar (or opposite) reaction or any thoughts
about what's going on in the case of "risk"[2]”.
HOW TO TEACH ANTONYMS
Teaching antonyms requires great skill and practice. For this purpose
the teacher uses various techniques and methods.
For example, while teaching antonyms “small” and “big” he uses
pictures for presenting them. He says: In these pictures you see two balls.
(The balls should differ only in size.) This is a small ball, and this is a
big ball. This ball is small, and that ball is big. Now, Sasha, come up to
the picture and point to the small ball (big ball).
Then the teacher shows another picture with two houses in it – a white
house and a yellow house, and he asks another pupil to point to the white
house, to the u yellow house, and so on.
The teacher may use gestures, for example, for conveying the meaning
of stand up, sit down. He says: Lena, stand up. He shows with his hands
what she must do. Lena stands up. Now, sit down. Again with the movement of
his hands he shows the girl what she must do. The other pupils listen to
the teacher and watch what Lena is doing. Then many pupils are invited to
perform the actions.
If the antonyms are difficult for understanding the teacher may use
the learners’ mother tongue and translate them directly or to give the
analogies. For example, the teacher says: àíòîíèì ñëîâà “øèðîêèé” íà
ðóññêîì ÿçûêå áóäåò “óçêèé”, à ïî-àíãëèéñêè ýòî ñëîâî çâó÷èò êàê “narrow”.
ANTONYM QUESTIONS TEST KNOWLEDGE OF VOCABULARY
The teacher must be sure of his vocabulary. . These questions
obviously test vocabulary. So if yours could use some work, spend time
improving it. Apart from having a great vocabulary, you can also do well on
antonyms by using test-smarts and strategy.
Antonyms present you with a single word followed by five answer
choices containing words or short phrases. Your task here is to find the
answer choice that’s most nearly opposite in meaning to the original word.
If you’re stumped about the meaning of a word, try to think of a context
where you’ve heard the word before. You may not be able to recite the
definition of the word covert, for instance, but you’ve probably heard the
phrase “covert operation” to describe some type of cloak-and-dagger
activity. Also, use your knowledge of foreign languages and word roots to
help “decode” the meaning of a tough word. For instance, you may not know
what benediction means, but you may be able to determine that the root bene
means “good” from knowing the more common word “benevolent.” That may be
all you need to answer a question if you spot a word like “curse” among the
answers.
Although antonym questions test knowledge of vocabulary more directly
than do any of the other verbal question types, antonym questions measure
not merely the strength of your vocabulary but also your ability to reason
from a given concept to its opposite. Antonyms may require only rather
general knowledge of a word, or they may require that you make fine
distinctions among answer choices. Antonyms are generally confined to
nouns, verbs, and adjectives; answer choices may be single words or
phrases.
Here are some approaches that may be helpful in answering antonym
questions:
1. Remember that you are looking for the word that is the most nearly
opposite to the given word; you are not looking for a synonym. Many
words do not have a precise opposite, so you must look for the answer
choice that expresses a concept most nearly opposite to that of the
given word.
2. In some cases more than one of the answer choices may appear at first
to be opposite to the given word. When this happens, try to define
more precisely or in greater detail the meaning of the given word.
3. In weighing answer choices, it is often useful to make up a sentence
using the given word or words. Substitute the answer choices in the
phrase or sentence and see which best “fits”. The best answer will be
the one that reverses the meaning or tone of the sentence or phrase.
4. Remember that a particular word may have more than one meaning.
5. Use your knowledge of root, prefix, and suffix meanings to help you
determine the meanings of unfamiliar words.
WORD RETRIEVAL ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
What is a word-retrieval problem?
The terms “word retrieval problem” or “word finding difficulty” imply
that the person knows and understands the word, and has used it correctly
before. However, they have difficulty retrieving such known words at times.
Children and adults with language disorders are frequently found to have
word retrieval difficulties. Often when a person (child or adult) is having
difficulty retrieving a word they will have the sense that it is “on the
tip of their tongue”: a state of affairs familiar to all of us; at other
times they seem simply to “go blank”.
ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES
These activities are intended for children .
Not all of the activities will suit all children - so be selective.
Put the emphasis on listening, thinking and speaking.
The activities are aimed at having the child retrieve known words -
not at extending the vocabulary by teaching new words.
Use a minimum of visual cues. If the word to be “retrieved” does not
come easily for the child, provide an auditory cue (e.g., say the first
sound or syllable of the word) or a verbal clue (e.g., “it rhymes with...).
Give the child time to think, but don’t leave it so long that they are
struggling to find the word. Rather than letting them persist
unsuccessfully, tell them the answer, and go on with the next few items.
Then ask them the one that was difficult again.
Aim for a high success-rate to encourage motivation and confidence.
Adapt the tasks to suit the (developmental) age of the person. Talk
about words and word-meanings.
As natural opportunities arise talk about such topics as “Why is Big
Bird called Big Bird?” Talk about people being named after other people.
Talk about why certain names might have been chosen for pets and TV
characters (Cookie Monster, Vinny the Poo, Uncle Scrooge, The Fat
Controller, etc). Try to work these conversations in around topics of
genuine interest to the child.
PLAYING GAMES INVOLVING ANTONYMS
Do this as a sentence completion (cloze) activity (e.g., “The opposite
of hot is...”) or use a question-and-answer format (e.g., “What is the
opposite of hot?”), or as a confrontation naming task using pictures in
which the child has to name “opposites pictures” as rapidly as they can
(e.g., hot cold, wet dry, big little, fast slow, deep shallow, apart
together).
( Play word games involving differences
For example, “What is different about a bird and a plane? They can
both fly, but they are different because...”
( Checking test
Each of the following questions begins with a single word in capital
letters. Five answer choices follow. Select the answer choice that has the
meaning most opposite to the word in capitals.
1.CEDE:
(A) estimate (B) fail (C) get ahead of (D) flow out of (E) retain
2. ACRID:
(A) surly
(B) vapid (C) damp (D) steady (E) sweet
3. NOISOME:
(A) lurid
(B) healthful (C) peaceful (D) morose (E) rancorous
( Answers
This question type is heavily based on vocabulary. The better your
vocabulary, the better you will do. But there are a few tricks you can try
to use. For example, if a choice doesn’t have a clear opposite, it can’t be
the correct answer. Such words as “hinterland” or “automobile” don’t have
very clear opposites and would be incorrect if you were to see them as
answer choices. In this case, answer choice (A) does not have a clear
opposite and can be eliminated even if you don’t know what “cede” means.
Also, if it’s a tough question and the keyword is really hard,
remember to stay away from choices that are too good to be true. The hard
questions, which are the last few questions of each question type, often
contain choices that are misleading or tricky. For instance, the word
“cede” will remind many people of “succeed,” so they’ll pick (B). But the
test maker will never reward students for making mistakes. (B) can’t be
correct. By the same logic, you could probably eliminate (C) and (D)
because “cede” will remind some people of “recede,” as in “receding tide.”
That leaves you with choice (E) as the right answer. “Cede” actually means
to yield or surrender, which is in fact the opposite of “retain.”
( Note: You will seldom, if ever, be able to eliminate all four
wrong answers to an antonym question just by using these kinds of guessing
strategies. They can help you eliminate a few choices and increase your
guessing odds, but the best way to tackle antonyms is to know what kinds of
words tend to show up on the GRE, make flashcards of them, and improve your
vocabulary.
1. C
Cede is to give up one’s rights or possessions. The most opposite phrase in
meaning is to get ahead of.
2. E
Something that is ACRID is sharp and biting to taste or smell. The
word most opposite in meaning is sweet.
3. B
NOISOME can mean harmful or injurious. The best opposite to this is
therefore healthful.
( ANTONYMS QUIZ
| | |Score |
|FACETS |Handout | |
| |Prefix: | |
|1. What is the prefix that gives the |a) -im b) il- c) in- | |
|opposite meaning of “happy”? |d) ir- e) un- | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................| | |
|................ |2. a) im- b) un- c) | |
|2. What prefix makes the word “possible” |ir- d) il- e) dis- | |
|into something you cannot do? | | |
|here:....................................|3. a) dis- b) im- c) | |
|............... |un- d) ir- e) il- | |
|3. Which prefix creates the antonym for | | |
|“practical”? | | |
|Write the word |4. a) im- b) il- c) | |
|here:....................................|un- d) dis- e) ir- | |
|............... | | |
|4. Choose the prefix that creates the | | |
|antonym for “satisfied”. |5. a) dis- b) ir- c) | |
|Write the word |un- d) im- e) un- | |
|5. The prefix that creates the opposite |6. a) ir- b) il- c) | |
|of the word “patient” is... |un- d) dis- e) in- | |
|here:....................................|7. a) dis- b) un- c) | |
|.............. |in- d) im- e) il- | |
|6. What word means the opposite of | | |
|“human”? | | |
|Write the word |8. a) un- b) dis- c) | |
|here:....................................|ir- d) im- e) il- | |
|.............. | | |
|7. And the prefix that creates the |9. a) un- b) ir- c) | |
|antonym for “imaginative” is? |dis- d) im- e) in- | |
|here:....................................|10 a) un- b) dis- c) | |
|.............. |in- d) im- e) ir- | |
|8. What is the antonym of the word | | |
|“legal”? | | |
|9. What is the antonym of “regular”? | | |
|10. The opposite of “responsible” is: | | |
(MATCHED PAIRS.
Purpose: To review vocabulary. Sometimes, new words can be added to
the set, as long as the number of new words s small and not disruptive. A
second purpose, if the game is played as a team activity, is to stimulate
conversation among the team members—“I think 7 matches 23.” “Do you
remember where ____ is?” Finally, the game, like all the card games, is fun
and contributes to group building.
Targeted Skill: vocabulary development
Preparation: Choose a category, e.g. antonyms. Write a word on each of
15 cards and the matching antonym on another 15 cards. Shuffle the cards
well and then turn the over and number them from 1 to 30 on the back.
Because the purpose of this game is to review something that has been
taught rather than teach something new, go over the pairs before the game
begins to be sure everybody knows what the 15 pairs are.
( Procedure:
1. Lay the cards out face down with the numbers showing.
2. Taking turns, the students call out 2 numbers. Turn over the called
cards. If the cards don’t match (chances are they won’t for the first
few turns), the cards are turned back over.
3. When a student makes a match, the matched areas are removed from the
lay-out and that student gets another turn, continuing until the cards
picked don’t match.
4. When all the cards have been matched, the student with the largest pile
wins.
Variations:
1. The game can be played as a team activity. One person from each team is
the spokesperson for the team’s collective effort to remember
locations. Students can take turns being the spokesperson.
2. When a match is made, the player can be required to use the two card
words in a sentence. If the player can’t do this, the cards are retuned
to the layout, and the next player gets he opportunity to match and use
the two words.
Suggestions:
1. adjective synonyms (big-large; next-following; skeptical-doubtful);
2. antonyms (warm-cool; light-heavy);
3. two-word verbs: separable (find out - discover);
4. two-word verbs; inseparable (come back - return);
5. prefixes (un - believable);
6. idioms (by the way - incidentally);
7. proverbs (Time - heals all things.).
(DEVELOP CHILDRENS’ UNDRESTANDING OF E MEANINGS
The following activity develops the children’s understanding of the
meanings of the above two terms, while increasing their range of
1) Begin by explaining the two terms, giving examples to illustrate the
point.
2) Have a list of words which have lots of synonyms / antonyms. Some are
listed here:
|strong |big |happy |short |soft |fast |easy |
|fat |nice |new |good |quiet |bright |warm |
3) Split the class into an even number of groups. Label half of the groups
“Synonym” and half of the groups “Antonym”.
4) Say one of the words on your word list. Each group then has to think of
as many synonyms and antonyms for that word as possible (depending on the
group’s label given earlier). The children can have a fixed time limit to
do this, or can continue until they run out of words.
5) Now count up the number of words each group has produced and award
points to the group with the longest list.
6) Repeat using different words. You could also swap the groups, so the
“Synonyms” groups now find antonyms and vice versa.
7) This would also be a useful exercise in using a thesaurus, so if there
were enough for one per group, the children could use these to add to their
own lists.
Antonyms: Students fold a piece of construction paper in half. They
look through the newspaper to find and cut out words or pictures that are
antonyms. They write or paste the antonym words or pictures on opposite
sides of the construction paper[3].
( CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER
Please check to see if the question is asking for an antonym or synony
|1|Give the antonym for ‘forward’ (1 pt) |
|.| |
| |[pic][A] advance |
| |[pic][B] ahead |
| |[pic][C] backwards |
| |[pic][D] behind |
|2|Are the following antonyms or synonyms? (FEARLESS/BRAVE) (1 pt) |
| | |
| |[pic][A] Synonyms |
| |[pic][B] Antonyms |
|3|What is the antonym of ‘no’ ? (1 pt) |
| |[pic][A] yes |
| |[pic][B] forget |
| |[pic][C] eat |
| |[pic][D] know |
|4|True or False: An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of |
|.|another word. (1 pt) |
| |[pic][A] True |
| |[pic][B] False |
CONCLUSION
The process of teaching a foreign language is a complex one: as with
many other subjects, it has necessarily to be broken down into components
for purposes of study: the teaching acts of (1) presenting and explaining
new material; (2) providing practice; and (3) testing.
In principle, the teaching processes of presenting, practicing and
testing correspond to strategies used by many good learners trying to
acquire a foreign language on their own. They make sure they perceive and
understand new language; they make conscious efforts to learn it through;
and they check themselves.
In the class, it is teacher’s job to promote these three learning
processes by the use of appropriate teaching acts. Thus, he or she:
presents and explains new material in order to make it clear,
comprehensible and available for learning; gives practice to consolidate
knowledge; and tests, in order to check what has been mastered and still
needs to be learned and reviewed.
These acts may not occur in this order, and may sometimes be combined
within one activity; nevertheless good teachers are aware which is their
main object at any point in a lesson.
In modern teaching materials now in use the words pupils are to learn
pass through the following stages:
1. Pupils listen to the words in sentences arranged in a structural group.
2. They learn the meaning of the words in various contexts.
3. Pupils learn the forms of the words.
4. They perform various exercises with the words in phrases and structures
to assimilate the usage of the words.
5. Pupils use the words in speaking in various situations.
The rules, techniques, methods and structures mentioned in this paper
are available for teaching any unit of vocabulary and antonyms as well.
Following these learning processes you will achieve a step and will be
successful in teaching antonyms and vocabulary in the whole.
THE LIST OF LITERATURE:
1. Îáùàÿ ìåòîäèêà îáó÷åíèÿ èíîñòðàííûì ÿçûêàì â ñðåäíåé øêîëå. Ì., 1967.
2. Ìåòîäèêà ïðåïîäàâàíèÿ èíîñòðàííûõ ÿçûêîâ çà ðóáåæîì. Ñîñò. Ì. Ì.
Âàñèëüåâà è Å. Â. Ñèíÿâñêàÿ. Ì., Ïðîãðåññ, 1967.
3. Ñòàðêîâ À.. Ï. Îáó÷åíèå èíîñòðàííîìó ÿçûêó â ñðåäíåé øêîëå. Ì.,
Ïðîñâåùåíèå, 1978.
4. Ïðîãðàììà ïî èíîñòðàííîìó ÿçûêó äëÿ ñðåäíåé øêîëû. Ì., Ïðîñâåùåíèå,
1981.
5. Õýêáîëäò Ï. Èçó÷åíèå èíîñòðàííûõ ÿçûêîâ. Ì., Ïðîñâåùåíèå, 1963.
6. Êîñòèíèêîâà Î. À.. Basic English Lexicology. Ñî÷è, 2000.
7. Flower J. Berman M. Build your vocabulary 2. LTP, London, 1998.
8. Ur P. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge
University, 1997.
9. The All Nations Dictionary (International Phonetic Alphabet). All
Nations Literature, Colorado Springs, 1992.
-----------------------
[1] See: Îáùàÿ ìåòîäèêà îáó÷åíèÿ èíîñòðàííûì ÿçûêàì â ñðåäíåé øêîëå. Ì.,
1967
[2] LINGUIST List 6.86 p.-32/1995/ Dr. Alex Eulenberg USA Department of
Speech, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
[3] This idea contributed by Mrs. Amada Pérez
Ñòðàíèöû: 1, 2
