Antonymy in the Legal Terminology: Diachronic Analysis

Abstract

Antonymy is a phenomenon that comes from the relation between the words with opposite meaning in the lexical system of the language. The antonymic relations are the base of scientific and practical recognition of the world reflected through the language. These relations reveal the meaning of the antonym pairs by distingushing them from each other in the degree of understanding the newer dinstinctive features. Various scholars state that in terminology there are the same principles of the notion confrontation, the formation of the antonym pairs and the semantic relations between these pairs as in the everyday language. However, antonymy in terminology has some features that are associated with the number of terminology elements that form antonymic terms, with the possibility of creating antonimic pairs according to the meaning of the word and the relations it creates in the terminology system, or by creating new antonymic links in terminology but different from those that may be created in the area of general language (Pasho, 1986). The systemic character of the antonymic relations notes: a) the relationship of the compound nouns with a common or similar lexical meaning because of logical-material relation that exists between opposite notions. For example the antonymic pairs civil - penal, privat - publik, each are joined with a similar word circle as: e drejtë, përgjegjësi, çështje, kod dhe pronë, e drejtë; b) in different antonymic relations that are created from the same word, when in different menaings there are formed different terminologic compounds. For exapmle the adjective fizik in the compound person fizik creates an antonymic relation with the adjective juridik (person juridik), but in the compound dëm fizik creates a antonymic relation with the adjective moral (dëm moral); the noun lindje in the compound lindje e personit creates an antonymic relation with the noun emrin vdekje (vdekje e personit); but in the compound lindje detyrimi the relation is with the shuarje (shuarje detyrimi); c) the idea that na antonymic pair gives to another pair as a result of the rules that characterise the opposite relations for example the qualities as i pjesëtueshëm, i kërkueshëm (detyrim) relate to the opposite i papjesëtueshëm, i pakërkueshëm. Antonymy is a phenomenon which expresess the systematic character of the terminology development through the systemic relations of the notions.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n3s1p237