Mynzak A. English Legal Antonyms: Semantic, Structural and Functional Aspects

The research focuses on semantic, structural and functional peculiarities of English legal antonyms in law-related vocabulary and text. The paper provides a complex methodology for selection and analysis of opposites that helped to single out the whole register of antonyms in legal field of knowledge. The critical overview of entries in English law dictionaries has showed that they can not serve as a reliable and objective source of legal antonyms. The combination of distributive and lexicographic methods were applied in order to determine the syntagmatic properties i.e. potential ability of antonyms to take part in the formation of opposite word-combinations. The process of terminologization was described by comparing the entries of conventional and law dictionaries. The statistical data about the word-usage frequency of antonyms in text was used in order to: 1) construct probabilistic model of antonymy in text; 2) compare usage frequency in fictional and law registers; 3) establish the correlation between usage frequency and degree of antonymy; 4) substantiate the application of word-usage frequency as a criteria of selecting legal antonyms. The contextual analysis has also been applied to reveal the contextual classes of antonyms: coordinated, ancillary, autonomous, cohesive, negated, transitory, conflict, comparative, distinguished and others types of antonymy.