Enantiosemy in the Azerbaijani language

One of the processes arousing interest in linguistics and depending on language exterior factors directly is enantiosemy. Enantiosemy is explained as the feature of the same word, expression denoting antonym, opposite meanings in linguistics literature. Enantiosemy known to the science community as a language process since XIX century even attracted S.Freud’s attention and he was also one of those who spoke about the existence of opposite meanings in the words for the first time. The view of examples on enantiosemy in sources related to different languages illustrates the boundaries of this areal.( Arabian, English, Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian etc.) This feature shows it standing beyond a language. Enantiosemy is observed not only inside one language, but also among related languages. Few examples are found on enantiosemy in the Azerbaijani language. Almost the same examples are repeated in its textbooks, dictionaries: these are usually words yaman (1. Pis (bad) Yaman günün ömrü az olar (After rain comes fair weather). 2.Sometimes it is used in the meanings “çox yaxşı”( very good) , “əla”( excellent),Yaman dedin (You said very well) ), keçinmək (1.Dolanmaq, yaşamaq.(to live) Bu təqaüdlə bir ay keçinmək olar (You can live a month with this pension). 2. Ölmək. (to die) Yaralı artıq keçinmişdi (The injured man had already died), gülmək (to laugh) (1. Expressing his or her sense producing characteristic sounds as a result of a certain feeling, opposite of the word to cry. Nə qədər yaraşır insana gülmək (How suits a man to laugh ). 2. İstehza etmək,ələ salmaq, lağ eləmək.(to mock)“Molla Nəsrəddin”belələrinə gülürdü (“Molla Nasraddin” laughed at such kind of people) ) Researches show that the process of occuring two opposite meanings in the semantic structure of the word in the Azerbaijani language still continues. For example, meaning capacity of the words like qiymətsiz (1. Dəyərsiz, dəyəri olmayan(worthless). Qiymətsiz əşya (worthless thing). 2. Çox dəyərli, qiymətli olan(valuable). Qiymətsiz hədiyyə ( a valuable gift), dəhşət (horror) (1. Strong feeling of fear. 2. It is used in the meanings “Çox yaxşı”, (“very good”), “çox gözəl”( “very beautiful”) Dəhşət filmdir (Film is very good) ) contains meanings of antonym. The process of registering opposite meanings of some words is slow because opposite meanings of the word appear occasionally at first. There is also an example to enantiosemy among dialects in the Azerbaijani language.There are cases of using the word Qolay (easy) differently, even in the opposite meaning to each other in dialects. In the Azerbaijani language enantiosemy shows itself not only in lexical units, but also in phraseological combinations: can vermək : 1. son dəqiqələrini yaşamaq, ölüm ayağında olmaq (to breathe one’s last). Qoca can verir ( An old man breathes his last). 2. diriltmək, həyat vermək.( to bring life) Yağış quru torpağa can verdi ( The rain brought life to the dry land) ).This process is valued as homonymic phraseological combinations and enantiosemy in linguistic literature.

Keywords

Azerbaijani language, enantiosemy, expression, antonym, homonymic