Chinese opposites words
There are lot of cool things in Chinese vocabulary, from forwards-backwards words to the physical shape of characters being used to express meaning. Another interesting type of vocabulary in Chinese is opposites words.
I haven’t been able to find a proper term for these - if you know of one please point it out in the comments. Note that these are not simply 反义词 (antonyms). They are pairs of antonyms that are used together as one word to express a larger idea.
These words work by putting two opposite concepts side by side to express some sort of encompassing concept. Often each part of the word indicates one end of a spectrum, and the whole word refers to the spectrum as a whole. I’m compiling a list of these words here (in no particular order). Suggestions are welcome.
真假 zhēnjiǎ true - false: veracity
长短 chángduǎn long - short: length
沉浮 chénfú sink - float: ebb and flow
粗细 cūxì thick - thin: thickness
大小 dàxiǎo big - small: size
东西 dōngxi east - west: thing
动静 dòngjìng move - still: activity
多少 duōshǎo many - few: how many
方圆 fāngyuán square - round: circumference
否则 fǒuzé not so - so: if not
刚柔 gāngróu hard - soft: yin and yang
高低 gāodī high - low: height
黑白 hēibái black - white: monochrome
水火 shuǐhuǒ water - fire: disaster
水土 shuǐtǔ water - soil: natural environment
吞吐 tūntǔ swallow - spit: to churn through
先后 xiānhòu first - after: in order
虚实 xūshí empty - real: the real situation
缓急 huǎnjí unhurried - urgent: priority
进退 jìntuì advance - retreat: sense of propriety
快慢 kuàimàn fast - slow: speed
宽窄 kuānzhǎi wide - narrow: width
来去 láiqù come - go: comings and goings
老少 lǎoshào old - young: all ages
男女 nánnǚ male - female: male and female
胖瘦 pàngshòu fat - thin: fat and thin
起落 qǐluò rise - fall: rise and fall
前后 qiánhòu before - after: beginning to end
轻重 qīngzhòng light - heavy: severity
曲直 qūzhí crooked - straight: right and wrong
善恶 shàn'è good - evil: good vs evil
上下 shàngxià up - down: top and bottom
阴阳 yīnyáng yin - yang: yinyang
涨缩 zhǎngsuō rise - fall: fluctuation
正反 zhèngfǎn right - reverse: pros and cons
左右 zuǒyòu left - right: approximately
胜负 shèngfù victory - defeat: outcome of a battle
See also
