The oppositional theory was originally formulated as a phonological theory by representatives of the Prague School. The method of oppositions has been successfully extended to grammar and semantics. Three main qualitative types of oppositions were established: privative (отрицательная); gradual (постепенная); equipollent (равная по силе).
By the number of contrasted oppositions they were divided into 1) binary, 2) more than binary. The most important for analysis is the binary privative type of opposition. The binary privitive opposition is formed by a contrastive pair of members in which one member is characterized by the presence of a certain differential feature (mark), while the other is characterized by the absence of this feature. The member in which the feature is present is called the marked, or the strong, positive member; the member in which the feature is absent, is called the unmarked, weak, negative member. Example 1: I study (weak member – non-past) – I studied (strong member – past). Example 2: a bird (weak member- non-plurality) – birds (strong member – plurality).
The gradual opposition exists only on semantic level. It’s formed by a contrastive group of members which are distinguished not only by the presence or absence of a feature, but by the degrees of it. Example: the degrees of comparison in adjectives: strong-stronger-strongest.
The equipollent opposition is formed by a contrastive pair or group in which the members are distinguished by different positive features. Example: to be-forms: am – is – are – they are equal in value.
The meaning of the weak member of the privative opposition is more general and abstract as compared with the meaning of the strong member, which is more definite and concrete.
In various contextual conditions one member of the opposition can be used in the position of the other. This phenomenon is called oppositional reduction, or oppositional substitution. E.g.: Tonight we start for London.-the weak member– Present tensereplaced the strong one- the Future tense. Such case is called neutralization of oppositions. E.g.: She is constantly grumbling. – It’s an exaggeration, not a continuous process. Here a strong member is used in the meaning of the weak member for stylistic purposes. This kind of oppositional reduction is called transposition (Blokh, 2000).