Vastakohtina

Vastakohtina is a Finnish linguistic term used to denote that something is presented or analyzed as an antonym, that is, as the opposite of another word or concept. The word stems from vastakohta (antonym) and functions in scholarly or descriptive writing to specify a contrastive relationship between terms. It is primarily found in dictionaries, grammars, textbooks, and articles that discuss word meanings, semantic fields, or thesauri.

In usage, vastakohtina introduces the idea of opposition in a concise, label-like form. It is not a common everyday construction in ordinary speech, but it appears in analytical sentences and glossaries. For example, a dictionary entry or a linguistic analysis might present a pair of terms with a note such as “vastakohtina: suuri – pienempi,” signaling that the two items are antonyms. The form can also appear within sentences to describe how a concept is being treated for contrast, for instance: “Käsite on esitetty vastakohtina suhteessa toiseen käsitteeseen.”

Relation to other terms: vastakohta means antonym, antonyymi is a synonym for the same idea, and vastakohtina is the expression used to indicate the role of antonyms in a given discussion. The term is part of the broader field of semantics and linguistic analysis in Finnish.

See also: vastakohta, antonyymi, semantiikka.