Repetition, Parallelism and Antonymous Verbal Phrases in Early and Classical Modern Irish

Abstract

This paper is divided into two sections. In the first, attention is drawn to three categories of rhetorical device described in the commentary to the Amrae Coluimb Chille, all of which involve some form of repetition. This is the starting point for a discussion of the artful use of repetition in Early and Classical Modern Irish literature. Examples of such repetition and parallel phrasing are provided for both periods. In the Classical period this inevitably involves some discussion of breacadh, a metrical and stylistic ornament involving repetition. In the second section, the focus moves to parallel phrases based on antithesis (such as English ‘the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away’) or contrast. The antonymy may be conveyed lexically (as in the example just quoted, ‘give’ vs ‘take’) or antithesis may be created morphologically (through a contrast of tense and voice, for instance, gonas géntair ‘he who kills will be killed’). The make-up of these antonymous parallel phrases will be described, the types of antithesis encountered discussed and questions of their interpretation addressed. A collection of Early Irish and Classical Modern Irish examples concludes the paper.