ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the pairs of adjectives that are directly opposed in meaning, are merely the simplest type of an antonymous group. Adjectives normally form groups with only two members, i.e. pairs, for they commonly designate a simple quality or its absence. A negative element in an adjective, then, whether a prefix like un- or simply a semantic element as in short, changes a description [at the positive end of the scale] effectively into [at the negative (marked) end of the scale]. This kind of negation inside a word can be called 'lexical negation' for it is quite different from the syntactic negation of an adjective: everything else but the designated area or all the rest of the scale, including both the neutral and opposite parts. In ordinary usage, a gradable adjective and its antonym are contraries. They are not contradictories because they are normally appropriate only when the quality described is significantly different from the average.
