Antonymy in Mbaise Dialect of Igbo

Abstract

Antonymy is a meaning relation in which opposition is distinguished. This meaning relation has received attention in different languages. There are some evidences of this attention in the Igbo language. In Oko (2017), Mba (2016), Udemmadu & Ogwudile (2017), Omego( 2014) etc. This study adds to what has been done concerning this relation in Igbo. It particularly focuses on the relation as it applies to the Mbaise dialect of Igbo with the objective to determining any dialectal facts that could provide much more description of meaning relation. The data for the study are obtained from the native speaker intuition of the researcher. However, data available are verified by consultation with older native speakers of the dialect, following from a descriptive analysis, The findings show that the following types of antonymy are displayed in the dialect: Simple antonyms, Gradable antonyms, Non- Gradable antonyms, Reverses, Converses or Relational antonyms and Taxonomy antonyms. Overall, there is no radical
difference between examples of antonymy in Mbaise and other dialects of Igbo except for lexical forms. The analysis for the data is descriptive.

Key Words: Nature of opposition, Antonymy, Incompatibility.