Lexical Cohesion

Opposites & Related words

 What is Cohesion?
Cohesion can be defined as the links that hold a text together and give
it meaning.
Types of Cohesion:
1- Lexical Cohesion (Lexical links)
- Word repetition (identity) - synonyms
- Superordinates and hyponyms - Opposites & related words

2- Grammatical Cohesion (Grammatical Links), (Grammatical Ties)

- Reference - Ellipsis
- Substitution - Conjunction

3- Rhetorical Cohesion : Question - answer

Antonymy is one of the sense relations between lexical items (words)
referring to all types of semantic oppositeness.

Types of oppositeness
1- Binary ( consisting of two parts) opposites: (left/right), (dead/alive),
(male/female),
(present/absent); (digital/analog), (even/odd)

(original/copy), (inside/outside),
In binary relationship,
- Only two items make up the whole set; we have only two
words.
- They are mutually exclusive (= incompatible); one item denies
the other. For example, (Tom is alive.) denies that (Tom is
dead.)
- They are called absolute opposites. (number 2 is 100 per cent
an even number; it can’t be partly an even number or an odd
one.
- There is a clear dividing line between the two items; they are
ungraded, for example (single/married) but not (very single/ a
little married).
Example:

At least 125 people died of AIDS in Bulawayo between April and

June this year, according to City Health authorities. … out of the
125, 71 were males while 54 were females.

Male and female are binary opposites.

They are called incompatible because they are absolute opposites.
2- Multiple opposites:
(beret/boaters/bonnet/caps/hat/top-hat/helmet/crash helmet/trilby)
(inch/foot/yard/mile/meter …)

In multiple relationship,
- There are more than two items (alternatives); they are not binary.
3- Antonyms: (big/small), (hot/cold), (generous/mean), (loud/quiet)
(narrow/wide), (shallow/deep), (short/long), (high/low)
( simple/ complex)

- The opposites are binary.

- They are not absolute. (The road is narrow) does not mean that it is
100% narrow.
- There is not a clear dividing line between the two items.
- They are gradable; very narrow, quite short, rather high, very mean
Example:

The composition of living organisms is very different from their

surroundings. Whereas the environment consists of relatively
simple substances such as gases, water and minerals, living
organisms are made up of very complex molecules.

Simple and complex are antonyms.

4- Converseness (= Relative): It is another kind of ‘oppositeness of
meaning’ in which there are converse relationships between the
items such as:
a) Social roles: (doctor/patient), (teacher/student)
b) Kinship terms: (parents/children), (son/father), (daughter/mother)
c) Temporal (time) relations: (before/after) (pre-/post)
d) Spatial relations: (under/over), (up/down), (precede/follow)

(doctor) and (patient) are converses because both items can be used to express
the same thing in a different way:
John is my doctor. I am John’s patient.
Tom is her father. She is Tom’s daughter.
John is the husband of Mary. Mary is the wife of John.
So other items can be converses if they can be used to express the same thing in a
different way.
Ali sold his house to James. James bought Ali’s house.
 The European Commission proposal, published next month,
aims to promote equal treatment of the sexes in the labor
market by making it easier for both parents to work and care
for children.

Parents and children are converses.

1- Identify the incompatible pairs of words here:

While some markets have become closed to South Africa, the

other countries of the region have opened new markets for
their exports.

Closed/opened
B

‘Everybody has left you alone all your life, and you are now,
as a result, in a mess. I’m going to get out of it.

In/out
C

The teaching on the BA is i three broad categories: core

courses, optional courses, and service courses. The core
courses are obligatory, and cover the central areas of
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.
The optional courses allow for individual interests to be
pursued: they are of two types, foreign language options
and linguistic options.

Optional/obligatory
D

Three different mineral supplements were offered to groups

of female Mashona cattle. The experiment started in June
1971 with 24heifers per group and terminated after the
third calving in September 1974.

Started/terminated
2- Identify the groups of multiple incompatible words and phrases in
these examples:

E
Many of the solicitors were allegedly inflating the time taken to
advise clients. They were also submitting double, treble or even
quadruple claims for waiting and travelling time when attending
court on behalf of more than one client.

Double, treble, quadruple are the multiple incompatible words.

Solicitors and clients are converses.
F

And when we ask for a ban on herring trade, to preserve an

overfished resource, we are told in no uncertain terms that
the Third World has no right to tell the First World what to
do about conservation. After all, people who killed all the
wolves in Britain, very nearly killed all the bison in the US
and pushed the great auk into extinction know all the
answers.

Herring, wolves, bison, auk are multiple compatible words.

First world, Third World, Britain, the US are multiple compatible words.
Push into extinction = kill are synonyms.
G

Would you rather help a fairy make magic, gnomes dig for
treasure, an imp be naughty, a witch make a stew or Santa
Clause deliver presents?

Fairy, gnome, imp, witch, Santa Clause

3- Identify the pairs of antonyms in these examples:
H
‘Paul,’ I said. ‘You see before you an example of the law of
compensation. The little weasel is ugly and stupid and mean and
he smells bad. But he is tough.’
‘You’ll find fucking out how tough I am,’ Harry said. ‘You may
as well stick that thing in your mouth and pull the trigger. ‘Cause
you’re a dead man. You understand that?’
‘On the other hand,’ I said to Paul, ‘I am handsome, good,
intelligent, and sweet-smelling. And much tougher than Harry.
Let’s go.’

Ugly/handsome
Stupid/intelligent
Mean (= unkind)/good
Smells bad/sweet-smelling
I

‘Hear the other side,’ said St Augustine. It’s easy to say but
difficult to do. When fundamental freedoms are at stake it’s
particularly vital to hear the other side.

Easy/difficult