Analyze and comment on the following.Comment on the following groups of words in terms of types of antonyms: contradictory terms, contrary terms, relative terms. “dead—alive”, “young—old”, “employer—employee”
ANTONYMS CAN BE DEFINED AS WORDS WHICH ARE OPPOSITE IN MEANING. THEY CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO THREE MAJOR GROUPS.
（1）CONTRADICTORY TERMS: THEY ARE SO OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER THAT THEY ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE AND ADMIT NO POSSIBILITY BETWEEN THEM, SUCH AS DEAD—ALIVE”.
（2）CONTRARY TERMS: ANTONYMS OF THIS TYPE ARE BEST VIEWED IN TERMS OF A SCALE RUNNING BETWEEN TWO POLES OR EXTREMES. ANTONYMS SUCH AS YOUNG — OLD REPRESENT TWO POINTS AT BOTH ENDS OF THE POLE AND CAN ACCOMMODATE A MIDDLE GROUND BELONGING NEITHER TO ONE POLE NOR TO THE OTHER. WE CAN HAVE MIDDLE-AGED BETWEEN THE YOUNG AND THE OLD.
（3）RELATIVE TERMS: THIS TYPE CONSISTS OF RELATIONAL OPPOSITES SUCH AS "EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE”.SUCH PAIRS OF WORDS INDICATE SUCH A RECIPROCAL SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP THAT ONE OF THEM CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT SUGGESTING THE OTHER. IF A IS AN EMPLOYER OF B, THEN B IS AN EMPLOYEE, WHO WORKS FOR A.
