Contronym

Template:Short description Template:Redirect A contronym or contranym is a word with two opposite meanings. For example, the word original can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before". This feature is also called enantiosemy,<ref>Template:Cite book, where "enantiosemy" is mentioned along with "auto-opposite",</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> enantionymy (enantio- means "opposite"), antilogy or autoantonymy. An enantiosemic term is by definition polysemic.

NomenclatureEdit

A contronym is alternatively called an autantonym, auto-antonym, antagonym,<ref>Template:Cite Merriam-Webster</ref><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> enantiodrome, enantionym, Janus word (after the Roman god Janus, who is usually depicted with two faces),<ref name=":2"/> self-antonym, antilogy, or addad (Arabic, singular didd).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Linguistic mechanismsEdit

Template:Multiple issues Some pairs of contronyms are true homographs, i.e., distinct words with different etymologies which happen to have the same form.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For instance cleave "separate" is from Old English clēofan, while cleave "adhere" is from Old English clifian, which was pronounced differently.

Other contronyms are a form of polysemy, but where a single word acquires different and ultimately opposite definitions. For example, sanction—"permit" or "penalize"; bolt (originally from crossbows)—"leave quickly" or "fix/immobilize"; fast—"moving rapidly" or "fixed in place". Some English examples result from nouns being verbed in the patterns of "add <noun> to" and "remove <noun> from"; e.g. dust, seed, stone. Denotations and connotations can drift or branch over centuries. An apocryphal story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described St Paul's Cathedral (using contemporaneous English) as "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", with the meaning (rendered in modern English) of "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Negative words such as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref name="Run DMC">Template:Cite AV media</ref> and sick sometimes acquire ironic senses by antiphrasis<ref name="Verne" /> referring to traits that are impressive and admired, if not necessarily positive (that outfit is bad as hell; lyrics full of sick burns).

Some contronyms result from differences in varieties of English. For example, to table a bill means "to put it up for debate" in British English, while it means "to remove it from debate" in American English (where British English would have "shelve", which in this sense has an identical meaning in American English). To barrack, in Australian English, is to loudly demonstrate support, while in British English it is to express disapproval and contempt.

In Latin, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has the double meaning "sacred, holy" and "accursed, infamous". Greek {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} gave Latin its {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, from which English got its demiurge, which can refer either to God as the creator or to the devil, depending on philosophical context.

In some languages, a word stem associated with a single event may treat the action of that event as unitary, so in translation it may appear contronymic. For example, Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} can be translated as both "guest" and "host". In some varieties of English, borrow may mean both "borrow" and "lend".

ExamplesEdit

EnglishEdit

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Original can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before"
Cleave can mean "to cling" or "to split apart".<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Clip can mean "attach" or "cut off".<ref name=":2" />
Dust can mean "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (e.g., to dust a cake with powdered sugar).<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":0" /> This contradiction features in the children's book Amelia Bedelia.<ref name="book">"Amelia Bedelia". LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2016-02-18.</ref>
Fast can mean "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly".<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":0" />
Obbligato in music traditionally means a passage is "obligatory" but has also been used to mean "optional".<ref>"Obbligato" in Lectionary of Music, Nicolas Slonimsky. McGraw-Hill Template:ISBN</ref><ref>"Obbligato" in Collins Music Encyclopedia, Westrup & Harrison: Collins, London, 1959</ref>
Overlook can mean "to make an accidental omission or error" or "to engage in close scrutiny or control".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Oversight can mean "accidental omission or error" or "close scrutiny or control".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Peruse can mean to "consider with attention and in detail" or "look over or through in a casual or cursory manner".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ravel can mean "to separate" (e.g., threads in cloth) or "to entangle".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Sanction can mean "approve" or "penalize".
Table can mean "to discuss a topic at a meeting" (British English) or "to postpone discussion of a topic" (American English). Canadian English uses both meanings of the word.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Other languagesEdit

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NounsEdit

The Korean noun 앞 (ap) may mean either "future" or "past" (distinguished by context).

VerbsEdit

The German verb ausleihen, the Dutch verb lenen, the Afrikaans verb leen, the Polish verb pożyczyć, the Russian verb одолжить (odolžítʹ), the Finnish verb lainata, and the Esperanto verb prunti can mean either "to lend" or "to borrow", with case, pronouns, and mention of persons making the sense clear. The verb stem conveys that "a lending-and-borrowing event is occurring", and the other cues convey who is lending to whom. This makes sense because anytime lending is occurring, borrowing is simultaneously occurring; one cannot happen without the other.
The German verb umfahren can mean either "to drive around" or "to run over". The two variants are distinguished by stress, though. The Afrikaans verb omry can also mean either "to drive around" or "to run over", but with no distinction in pronunciation.
The Romanian verb a închiria, the French verb louer, the Afrikaans verb huur, the Finnish verb vuokrata<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Spanish {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref name="Verne" /> and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref name="Prieto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> mean "to rent" (as the lessee does) as well as "to let" (as the lessor does). The English verb Template:Wikt-lang can also describe either the lessee's or the lessor's role.

The Swahili verb kutoa means both "to remove" and "to add".
The Chinese word "打败" means both "to be defeated" and "to defeat".
The Persian verb چیدن (čidan) means both "to pluck" and "to arrange" (i.e. by putting objects down).
In Spanish Template:Wikt-lang (basic meaning "to give"), when applied to lessons or subjects, can mean "to teach", "to take classes" or "to recite", depending on the context.<ref name="DRAE dar">Template:Cite book</ref> Similarly with the French verb apprendre, which usually means "to learn" but may refer to the action of teaching someone.<ref name="DRAE apprendre">Template:Cite book</ref> Dutch Template:Wikt-lang and Afrikaans Template:Wikt-lang can mean "to teach" or "to learn".
The Indonesian verbs menghiraukan and mengacuhkan can mean "to regard" or "to ignore".
The Indonesian/Malay adjective usah can mean "required" or "discouraged" (disambiguated by the use of tidak or tak "don't").
In Greek some verbs that begine with the prefix "από-" (apo-) can have a contranym meaning. A prominent example is the verb "αποφράζω" means "to plug something, to fill a hole", and it usually used as a medical term, based on the original ancient Greek meaning. The more modern Greek meaning is "to unplug something, remove a blockage". Similar verbs are "απογεμίζω", that can both mean "to fill up to a brim" and "to empty completely" and "απομαθαίνω", that can both mean "to learn something very well" and "to forget something I learned". The meaning that negates the main action, is usually a more modern Greek one. The prefix "apo-" sometimes enhances an action and sometimes negates it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

AdverbsEdit

Template:Langx and Template:Langx (kal {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) may mean either "yesterday" or "tomorrow" (disambiguated by the verb in the sentence).
Template:Langx can mean "toward the sea" or "away from the sea" depending on dialect.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Langx can mean "a while ago" or "in a little bit/later on"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Agent nounsEdit

The Italian, Spanish and French cognates (respectively) ospite, huésped and hôte can mean "host" or "guest". The three words derive from the Latin hospes, which also carries both meanings.

AdjectivesEdit

The Latin sinister Template:Lit meant both "auspicious" and "inauspicious", within the respective Roman and Greek traditions of augury.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The negative meaning was carried on into French and ultimately English.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Latin Template:Wikt-lang means "excessive, too much". It maintained this meaning in Spanish Template:Wikt-lang, but it was also misinterpreted as "insignificant, without importance".<ref name="RAE nimio">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Verne">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Vietnamese, Template:Wikt-lang means among other things "bright, clear" (from Sino-Vietnamese {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) and "dead, gloomy" (from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). Because of this, the name of the dwarf planet Pluto is not adapted from Template:Script as in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.<ref name="RenshawIhara2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="nineplan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Bathrobe">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Spanish Template:Wikt-lang meant originally "blissful, fortunate" as in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, "fortunate land". However it developed an ironic and colloquial meaning "bothersome, unlucky", as in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, "Damned flies!".<ref name="RAE dichoso">Template:Cite book</ref>

In translationEdit

Seeming contronyms can arise from translation. In Hawaiian, for example, aloha is translated both as "hello" and as "goodbye", but the essential meaning of the word is "love", whether used as a greeting or farewell. Similarly, 안녕 (annyeong) in Korean can mean both "hello" and "goodbye" but the central meaning is "peace". The Italian greeting ciao is translated as "hello" or "goodbye" depending on the context; the original meaning was "at your service" (literally "(I'm your) slave").<ref>Ronnie Ferguson, A linguistic history of Venice, 2007, Template:Isbn, p. 284</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Contronym

Contents

NomenclatureEdit

Linguistic mechanismsEdit

ExamplesEdit

EnglishEdit

Other languagesEdit

NounsEdit

VerbsEdit

AdverbsEdit

Agent nounsEdit

AdjectivesEdit

In translationEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Further readingEdit

External linksEdit