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: антоним слова “широкий” на
русском языке будет “узкий”, а по-английски это слово звучит как “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
