John Albert Ladera

BSIT 1-3

CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS

According to quality
Affirmative and negative

1. A term is affirmative or positive if it expresses what is real, true, or essential of a thing, e.g. existence,
life, and optimism. A term is also affirmative when it affirms the presence of desirable traits, e.g. just,
honest, and active.

There are two kinds of affirmative term: a) positive in form, positive in meaning (the above-
mentioned examples fall under this kind); and b) negative in form, positive in meaning, e.g. blameless,
spotless, unblemished, untarnished, infinite, immortal, guiltless

2. A term is negative if it indicates the non-appearance of some trait, e.g. unjust, sickly, inactive, death,
immorality.

There are two kinds of negative term: a) negative in form, negative in meaning, e.g. unjust, inactive,
immoral, impotent; and b) positive in form, negative in meaning, e.g. mistake, death, evil, oppression,
chaos.

According to Origin
Immediate and Mediate

1. Immediate terms are formed through direct perception of things.

e.g. bag, pencil, ball pen, yellow paper, cellphone

2. Mediate terms are formed indirectly, that is, through the mediation of other ideas.

e.g. God, soul, spirit, universe

According to the nature of referents:
Concrete, Abstract, Logical, and Null

1. A term is concrete if its referent is tangible or can be perceived by the senses.e.g. tree, chalk, spoon,
belt, pants, arms. Concrete term also refers to that which indicates a quality or characteristic as inherent
in a subject. eg.: black, big, tall.

2. A term is abstract if its referent is intangible or can be understood only by the mind and cannot be
perceived by the senses. e.g. freedom, democracy, faith, love, patriotism, compassion, sacrifice. Abstract
term also refers to the quality or characteristic considered independently from the subject in which it
inheres. e.g. blackness, redness, kindness

3. A term is logical if it was formulated to serve as linguistic device to aid learning. e.g. copula, subject,
predicate, velocity, momentum, phylum

4. A term is null or empty if it has no actual or real referents but is only imaginary. e.g. unicorn, fairy, elf,
dragon, batman, spiderman, superman, x-men, dragon

According to definiteness of meaning

Univocal, Equivocal, and Analogous

1. A term is univocal if it exhibits exactly identical sense and meaning in different incidents. For example,
we say Canines are dogs and Dalmatians are dogs. The term dogs are univocal, unless we give a different
meaning in any of the term dogs in the statements.

Ex. Peter is a man. – Paul is a man; teacher’s table – dining table; leaves of coconut – leaves of
mahogany.

2. A term is equivocal when it indicates entirely different meanings in different occurrences. In the
statements, Stars are heavenly bodies and Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt are stars, the term stars is
equivocal for the meaning of the term stars in the first statement is different from that of the second. An
equivocal term thus is not one but two terms.

Other examples: pitcher (player) – pitcher (water container); base (camp) – base (lower part);
spring of water – spring of a machine; bark of a tree – bark of a dog
3. A term is analogous when it shows partly identical and partly distinct meanings in different
occurrences. In the phrases head of a man and head of a family, the terms head in some sense are
similar but nonetheless different in some aspects.

Other examples: healthy man – healthy diet; leg of man – leg of a chair; foot of a man – foot of a
mountain

According to relation
Compatible and Incompatible (Contradictory, Contrary, Relative, and Privative)

1. Compatible terms are terms that can coexist in a subject, that is, there is no logical obstacle for them
to be present in a subject at the same time.

e.g. tall and handsome, dark and rich, slowly and surely, simple and elegant, sweet and sour

2. Incompatible terms are terms that cannot coexist in a subject for they rule out each other. The
following are kinds of incompatible terms:

a) Contradictory terms are two terms, one of which negates the other. Contradictories are so mutually
exclusive that there is no middle ground or third possibility between them.

e.g. edible – non-edible; being – nothing; existent – non-existent; life – lifeless

b) Contrary terms are terms that belong to the same class but deny each other. Between these terms,
there is/are middle ground/s. When some said that her girlfriend is not black, it is not safe to conclude
that he must be white, for he may be brown or yellow. White and black therefore are contrary (not
contradictory) terms.

Other examples: elated—depressed, hard—easy, hot – cold, happy – sad, long – short, genius—idiot.

c) Privative terms are terms wherein one indicates the presence of a quality or perfection while the
other signifies the absence or lack of it.

e.g. good – evil, truth—falsity, health – sickness, wealth – poverty, sight – blindness

d) Correlative terms are two opposed terms wherein one cannot be understood without the other.In
their meaning, they imply reference to one another.

e.g. husband – wife, interviewer – interviewee, parent – child, master – servant, teacher – pupil, leader –
follower