Antonymy in Paradigmatic Relations of the English Terminology in the Biotechnology Field

Abstract

Introduction. The terminology of biotechnology is a relatively new area of linguistic research that requires comprehensive scientific study. The study, classification, description of terms that emerge in new fields of knowledge, which undoubtedly includes biotechnology, is one of the relevant areas of modern linguistic research, which led to the emergence of numerous works by linguists. It should be emphasized that the study of English terminology in the field of biotechnology is no longer at an early stage. Numerous works testify to the relevance of the study of the language of biotechnology, which have recently paid some attention to this problem.

However, despite the large number of scientific papers devoted to the study of English terminology of biotechnology, the phenomenon of antonymy, characteristic of its terms, has not yet been the subject of a separate study. The lack of comprehensive coverage of antonymous connections in the biotechnological vocabulary determines the relevance of the study.

The purpose of the article is to investigate the phenomenon of antonymy in the context of paradigmatic relations in the terminology of the biotechnological sphere.

Objectives of the study: 1) to identify antonymous pairs in the terminology of biotechnology; 2) classify antonyms according to paradigmatic components; 3) to find out the semantic structure of antonyms; 4) analyze the ways of creating antonyms.

Materials and methods of research. The source base of the work were texts from scientific literature in English (publications of scientific journals, materials of the Internet) and biotechnological dictionaries. During the analysis we relied on the methods of continuous sampling of language material, classification, definition and comparative analysis.

Results of the research. The author focuses on the generalization of theoretical views on the essence of the phenomena of antonymy in terminology in general. The example of terminological units in the field of biotechnology shows the peculiarities of the use of antonymous units in English. Antonymous pairs and series are selected for analysis. Antonyms of the studied terminology are classified according to several criteria; 1) by conceptual and semantic connections; 2) according to the plan of expression. The structure, composition and semantic types of antonyms are analyzed. According to the semantic criterion, i.e. conceptual-semantic connections (depending on the type of opposite), antonyms were divided according to the classification of antonyms developed by V. Tatarinov, who distinguishes the following types of antonyms: contrarian, contradictory, complementary and conversion. This classification gives grounds to assert that in the studied terminology the antonymous relations of the contradictory and much less often of the complementary, counter and convertible types are most widely represented. According to the structure, or according to the plan of expression of the antonyms of the English biotechnology terminology is divided into multi-rooted and common-rooted antonymous pairs.

Conclusions. It is concluded that antonymy in the terminology of biotechnology performs the function of systematization, which provides a comprehensive description of concepts, phenomena, processes of the biotechnology field. Analysis of biotechnological terms-antonyms of the English language at the semantic level indicates the presence of contradictory, contraral, complementary and convertible antonymous relations. Terms-antonyms of the contradictory type, formed with the help of negative prefixes, are presented in the studied terminology much more widely than other types. It is established that in the terminology of the field of biotechnology cognate antonyms predominate, and the most regular are two-component phrases.