‘Sameness in meaning’ Not ‘total sameness’ Synonymous forms may differ in formality My father purchased an automobile. My dad bought a big car.
Antonymy
Semantic Features
The hamburger ate the man. My cat studied linguistics. A table was listening to some music. Use ( + ) or ( - ) to denote +nimate, -animate, +human, -human, etc
Semantic Roles
Agent: the entity that performs the action; human, non-human forces, machines, creatures
Theme: the entity that is involved in or affected by the action; or an entity being described
Two forms with opposite meanings Gradable antonyms: can be used in comparative
constructions; the negative of one member of the gradable pair does not necessarily imply the other. Not old vs. young Non-gradable antonyms: complementary pairs, compartive constructions are not normally used; the negative of one member imply the other. Dead vs. alive, male vs. female, true vs. false Reversives: enter vs. exit, tie vs. untie, pack vs. unpack, lengthen vs. shorten, raise vs. lower, etc