ANTONYMY IN THE SPEECHES OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article analyzes antonymy as a key stylistic and rhetorical tool in the political discourse of the President of Ukraine during the war. Antonymic pairs in presidential speeches perform a number of functions: structuring the text, enhancing the emotional impact on the audience, emphasizing ideological values, increasing the persuasiveness of arguments, and mobilizing society. Based on the material of speeches for the period of October 1–30, 2024, the semantic classification of antonyms (graded, complementary, vector) is carried out and their functional load is determined. It was found that the most frequent pairs are war – peace, strength – weakness, justice – injustice, together – separately, we – they. The complementary opposition war – peace dominates the President's rhetoric, reflecting the desire for a just peace and opposition to aggression. The gradational antonyms strength – weakness emphasize the resilience of Ukrainians, while the vector antonyms (increase – decrease, approach – distance) reflect the dynamics of events and goals. Opposition us – them acts as an ideological marker of national unity and opposition of civilization models.Antonymy in the President's speeches reflects the basic values of Ukrainian society – freedom, justice, unity – and helps to strengthen national identity and mobilize the domestic audience. For the international community, antonymic constructions appeal to universal concepts, helping to support Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor. The active use of antonyms enhances the motivational potential of speeches, supports the patriotic spirit and forms a positive image of Ukraine as a country fighting for freedom, justice and peace.The obtained results confirm the high functional potential of antonymy in crisis political rhetoric through the formation of contrasting images, activation of moral categories, and strengthening the persuasiveness of arguments.