On antonym and negate in fuzzy logic

Abstract

The abilities to speak well and to conceptualize seem to be closely linked. It has been maintained that the human brain has a preference for binary oppositions or polarities. The notions of antonym and negate are examples of polarity between the pairs of predicates P−no P, P−ant P. Other characteristics as mutual exclusivity, complementation, or reciprocity are applied, in some cases, to them. However, if negation is a general phenomenon in natural languages, the use of antonyms is more usual for graduate predicates. For this reason, antonyms were considered very early in fuzzy set theory.1-4 In this work, some relations between antonyms and negates are analyzed in the frame of fuzzy set theory, showing both similarities and dissimilarities between these two concepts. The last goal is to get automatic methods to build concepts with an adequate and easy interpretation. This paper is an experimental-theoretic intent on the way of establishing a mathematical model of antonymy in agreement both with some linguistic facts and with some uses in fuzzy control. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.