A taxonomy of antonymy in Arabic: Egyptian and Saudi proverbs in comparison

Abstract This study has set out to identify, quantify, typify, and exemplify the discourse functions of canonical antonymy in Arabic paremiography by comparing two manually collected datasets from Egyptian Saudi (Najdi) dialects. Building upon Jones’s (2002) most extensive often-cited classification antonyms as they co-occur within syntactic frames news discourse, substantially revised this developed a provisional dynamic typology thereof. Two major textual are found be quantitatively significant qualitatively preponderant: ancillarity (wherein an A-pair project their antonymicity onto more important B-pair) coordination one antonym holds inclusive or exhaustive relation another antonym). Three new have been added retrieved classification: subordination occurs subordinate clause while other main clause), case-marking opposite cases served antonyms), replacement is substituted with another). Semicanonical noncanonical guises left recommended for future research.