How is it possible?
So a word could have two opposite meanings?
The French language is a surprising playground.
Some of the terms that make it up say one thing ... and its exact opposite.
Imagine.
You see the ad
"seeks to rent charming house"
.
You can rent a house to a landlord, and a landlord can rent their house to a tenant.
But then, how to differentiate the tenant from the lessor?
Linda Giguère looked at the issue in her column
“Linda's Mood”
on TV5 Monde.
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This phenomenon bears the unusual name of
"enantioseme"
.
“This term, which nobody knows, is not even in classic dictionaries.
Enantioseme is a word which signifies a thing and its opposite. "
Take the verb
“to learn”
.
It designates the fact of acquiring knowledge, receiving an education.
But also that of giving lessons, teaching students.
We
“learn a poem”
and we
“teach children a poem”
.
Linda Giguère sheds light on the origin of this phenomenon:
“online dictionaries indicate that enantiosemia is a subject of study dating back to the end of the 19th century. It could be explained by the inability of primitive beings that we are, to think of a concept without associating its opposite with it. "
Psychoanalysis has taken a close interest in it:
"Freud saw a parallel with the language of dreams, since according to him, a dream can be interpreted as the opposite of reality."
Another word then appeared:
"enantiosemia"
. Repeat three times, opening your mouth wide. As the chronicler specifies, it is formed from two Greek words:
enantios
,
“opposite”
, and
sema
,
“sign”
. The semiologist Roland Barthes is at the origin of this concept.
Enantiosemes are a rare species. Let us note all the same the word
"host"
, which is at the same time the person who receives and the one who is received. The Swiss say
"goodbye"
to say
"hello"
and
"goodbye"
. As for the Quebecers, compatriots of the journalists, they greet each other as well as they leave each other by throwing a
"hello"
or
"good evening"
.