Definição e Significado de "antonymy"

What is "antonymy"?

Antonymy is the linguistic phenomenon where two words have opposite meanings. For example, "hot" and "cold," or "happy" and "sad" are antonyms because they describe contrasting concepts. Antonyms can be classified into different types, such as gradable antonyms, which represent a spectrum, like "big" and "small," and complementary antonyms, which have a clear relationship, like "alive" and "dead." Understanding antonymy is important for language learners as it helps enhance vocabulary and clarify meaning by providing contrasts in language.