The Theory of Oppositions

The theory of grammatical opposition is very popular in grammar studies, because it lies at the base of all established grammatical categories.

The opposition is a generalized correlation of language units, forms, by means of which a certain category or function is expressed.

The members of the opposition must possess two types of features: common and differential. Common features serve as the basis for contrast, while the differential features express the function in question.

Let’s take the opposition “table - tables”. The common feature of this opposition is the expression of the category of number. The differential features are oneness or singularity in the first member and more-than-oneness or plurality in the second member.

The theory of oppositions was established by the Czech linguist S. Trubetskoy in phonology. He established 3 types of oppositions:

• privative;

• gradual;

• equipollent.

Taking into consideration the number of members of the oppositions we can speak of binary and more-than-binary oppositions.

1) In a binary privative opposition one member is characterized by the presence of a certain differential feature, while the other member is characterized by the absence of this very feature. The member in which the differential feature is present is called “the marked” (strong, positive) member of the opposition. The other member of the opposition is called unmarked (weak, negative).

Let’s take the opposition /d/: /t/. The common feature of this opposition is the fact that both members are plosive, alveolar-apical consonants. The differential feature is the presence of voice in articulation. So /d/ is treated as the marked member of the opposition as it is voiced, while /t/ is unmarked because it is voiceless.

2) A gradual opposition is formed by a contrastive group of members which are distinguished not by the presence or absence of some feature but by the degree of the same feature.

Taking into consideration the degree of openness of the phoneme, we can speak of a gradual opposition when comparing vowels: /i:, i, e, эe/.

3) An equipollent opposition is formed by a contrastive pair or group of members which are differentiated by different positive features.

e.g. the phonemes <k> and <t> form an equipollent opposition in which the voiceless consonant <k> is velar while the voiceless consonant <t> is alveolar-apical.

All these three types of oppositions are identified in morphology and help to establish grammatical categories.

e.g. the binary privative opposition book : books expresses the category of number. The marked member is “books”. On the plane of expression it is marked by the inflexion /s/ and on the plane of content it expresses plurality. The other member of the opposition is unmarked on the plane of expression and on the plane of content it denotes singularity.

Thus we can say that the semantic differential feature in this opposition is plurality and the member of the opposition “books” is marked by this seme, while the other member lacks this seme.

Gradual oppositions are rare in morphology. A vivid example of them is the case of the morphological category of degrees of comparison. The common feature at the base of this opposition is the meaning of quality, which is represented as different in degree in each member.

Equipollent oppositions are also occasional in English morphology. The typical example of them is the paradigm of the verb to be (am, is, are). The first member expresses the 1^st person singular, the 2^nd member – the 3^rd person singular and the 3^rd member – the 2^nd person singular and all the three persons plural.