Antonymy is not only a juxtaposition of words in meaning, but also an important device, which gives the speaker’s speech great expressiveness. Often, it is due to the opposition that a person for a longer period of time and more qualitatively remembers a phrase or thought. In many respects, the instructive effect that stable combinations, proverbs and sayings have on a person is associated with antonyms.
Help: general information about antonyms and proverbs
Before proceeding to the proverbs with antonyms that exist in Russian, as well as their examples from other languages of the world, we should recall the simplest school rule and answer the question of what are antonyms. Antonyms are words that belong to one part of speech, but are opposite in their lexical meaning. The following pairs of words can be given as examples:
- White black;
- light heavy;
- day Night;
- young - old.
Proverbs are called figurative, well-aimed sayings that affect different areas of human life and are instructive, edifying in nature. Examples include the following expressions:
- Make a fool pray to God, and he will break his forehead.
- A penny ruble saves.
- He started for health, and finished for peace.
Russian proverbs with antonyms
Analysis of Russian proverbs with antonyms can begin with the aforementioned “started for health, but finished for peace”, where there is an antonymic couple “health - rest”. The meaning of this proverb is that people sometimes dramatically change the course of their thoughts, especially when speaking in public. In recent years, very often this proverb also takes on the meaning of "started to do something well, but completely ruined the work at the very end."
Our team started the match for health, but finished it for peace.
In addition to this proverb, the following examples can be given:
- Guilty blood is water, and innocent trouble.
- Peace drinks water, and anxiety drinks honey.
- Learning is light and ignorance is darkness.
