American Journal Of Philological Sciences
23
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue08 2025
PAGE NO.
23-25
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue08-05
Use of Antonyms in Folk Tales
Esonov Rustam
3rd-year doctoral student at Kokand State Pedagogical Institute, Uzbekistan
Received:
13 June 2025;
Accepted:
09 July 2025;
Published:
11 August 2025
Abstract:
The largest lexical group in the language of fairy tales is formed by antonyms, which is related to the
genre features of the fairy tale. The plot of a fairy tale is built on the formation of opposing sides and their struggle,
and opposition constitutes the basis of its artistic poetics. Antonyms enhance the expressiveness of the fairy tale.
Keywords
:
Antonym, fairy tale, antithesis, folk, text, feature.
Introduction:
Antonyms are pairs of units belonging to
the same part of speech that are formed on the basis
of opposite meanings. The wide use of antonymy in folk
tales is very similar to that of synonyms. When speaking
about words being in an antonymic relationship, it
should be understood that not all meanings are meant,
but usually only one specific meaning. In the language
of fairy tales, the largest lexical group is formed by
antonyms, and this is related to the genre features of
the fairy tale. The plot of a fairy tale is built on the
formation of opposing sides and their struggle, and
opposition forms the basis of its artistic poetics. In folk
tales, a large number of antonyms with different roots
and antonyms with the same root are distinguished.
Antonyms are often used within a single sentence. This
phenomenon is especially common in Uzbek folk tales.
Antonyms with different roots. This type of antonym
has different word roots but is semantically opposite to
each other:
Antonym
pair
Example phrase (excerpt from a fairy tale)
Reference
good – bad
“Everyone was kind to the good girl Zumrad, but
no one liked the bad Qimmat.”
Zumrad va Qimmat // O‘zbek xalq
ertaklari. – Toshkent: Yozuvchi, 1982. –
B. 23.
white –
black
“The white bird would bring good fortune, while
the black bird would bring sorrow.”
Qora qush va oq qush // O‘zbek xalq
ertaklari. – Toshkent: Fan, 1978. – B. 17.
big – small
“Even if it is big, the work should be started small,”
said the old man.
Donishmand chol // O‘zbek xalq ertaklari.
– Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 1980. – B. 8.
friend –
enemy
“He did not know whether that person was a friend
or an enemy.”
Boy ila gado // O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
Toshkent: Fan, 1971. – B. 35.
fast – slow
“He ran fast but forgot how to walk slowly.”
Tulki va tipratikan // O‘zbek xalq ertaklari.
– Toshkent: Yozuvchi, 1979. – B. 15.
straight –
crooked
“Only the one who chooses the straight path
reaches the destination, while the crooked path
leads astray.”
Oqibatli yigit // O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 1983. – B. 21.
hungry – full
“A hungry person does not understand the state of a
full person.”
Och va to‘q // O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Toshkent: Fan, 1975. – B. 11.
These antonyms create the contrast between
characters in fairy tales (good and bad); reveal the
moral idea of the fairy tale (friend and enemy); produce
dramatic conflict (white and black); and emphasize the
internal logic of complex events (straight and crooked).
Single-root (affixal) antonyms. These antonyms share
the same word root but express opposition through
affixes. They have the same root, but are formed by
negative or oppositional affixes, and are mainly used in
verb forms. Such antonyms not only convey semantic
opposition but also create rhythm and imagery in
spoken language.
In folk tales, we can also encounter antonymic
numerals such as one
–
forty, and antonymic adverbs
such as few
–
many. As we know, numerals indicate the
number, quantity, and order of objects. It is clear that
they cannot be semantically opposite. However, there
may be a very large difference between numbers, and
they can combine to form antonymic pairs, which
belong to the paradigm of antonymic pairs.
Antonyms enhance the expressiveness of a fairy tale.
One of the features characteristic of fairy-tale language
is the frequent use of paired words and antonyms, that
is, complex antonyms. In English fairy tales, such cases
are observed quite often.
Antonym Pair
(Murakkab antonim)
Meaning
Example from fairy tale
rich and poor
boy va kambag‘al
“He was kind to rich and poor alike.” (Jack and
the Beanstalk)
big or small
katta yoki kichik
“No job was too big or small for the clever tailor.”
(The Brave Little Tailor)
young and old
yosh va qari
“Everyone, young and old, came to hear the
story.”
good and evil
yaxshilik
va
yomonlik
“It was a tale of good and evil, where good always
wins.” (Cinderella)
right and wrong
to‘g‘ri
va
noto‘g‘ri
“He couldn’t tell right from wrong, yet he ruled
the land.”
night and day
tun va kun
“The castle stood silent through night and day.”
high and low
yuqori va past /
jamiyatdagi tabaqalar
“They searched high and low, but the golden
goose was gone.” (The Golden Goose)
near and far
yaqin va uzoq
“From near and far, people came to see the
dragon.” (St. George and the Dragon)
up and down
yuqoriga
va
pastga
“He ran up and down the beanstalk.” (Jack and the
Beanstalk)
here and there
u yoq bu yoq
“She looked for her lost ring here and there.”
Complex antonyms express opposing meanings
between two components, but they do not mutually
exclude each other; they differ only in quality. Such
opposing words form paired nouns that convey
meanings of generalization and aggregation.
The above antonyms are used to indicate an average or
intermediate quality, characteristic, or time between
two opposite things. The use of paired words is a
feature of the folklore style.
Antonyms are the most important lexical tool through
which an antithesis (a comparison of contrasting
concepts) can be created.
Antithesis is “based on the opposition of concepts and
consists of phrases, sentences, and complex syntactic
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
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2771-2273)
structures; its lexical basis is formed by antonyms,
while its syntactic basis is formed by the parallelism of
constructions.” Based on this definition, we will
examine in the following table the stylistic device of
antithesis used by the storyteller in folk tales:
Antithetical excerpt
Lexical
oppositions
Syntactic parallelism
Reference
“The rich ate and ate but
was never satisfied, the poor
drank and drank but never
filled up.”
rich – poor; was
never satisfied –
never filled up
“ate and ate but was
never satisfied” and
“drank and drank but
never filled up”
O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
T.: G‘afur G‘ulom nomidagi
nashriyot, 2006. – 118-bet.
“A wise man measures his
words before speaking, but
a fool speaks first and then
thinks.”
wise – fool;
measures before
speaking – thinks
later
“measures his words
before speaking” and
“speaks first and then
thinks”
O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
T.: G‘afur G‘ulom nomidagi
nashriyot, 2006. – 89-bet.
“The sun is the father of the
day, the moon is the mother
of the night.”
sun – moon; day –
night; father –
mother
“The sun is the father of
the day” and “the moon
is the mother of the
night”
O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
T.: G‘afur G‘ulom nomidagi
nashriyot, 2006. – 45-bet.
“The good brother found
bread and gave it, the bad
brother took the bread
away.”
good – bad; gave –
took
“found bread and gave
it” and “took the bread
away”
O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
T.: G‘afur G‘ulom nomidagi
nashriyot, 2006. – 66-bet.
“A father gives from the
heart, but a king takes by
force.”
gives from the heart
– takes by force
“A father … gives” and
“a king … takes”
O‘zbek xalq ertaklari. –
T.: G‘afur G‘ulom nomidagi
nashriyot, 2006. – 104-bet.
Multi-component antitheses contain a verb + adjective
(or substantive or adverb).
It is evident that antithesis is used in all types of folk
tales. The antonyms in fairy tales ensure their vivid
expression and emotional impact.
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