Watkins IE Formulas

Indo-European Literary Features
from How to Kill a Dragon by Calvert Watkins

1. (p.38) Two different levels within the lexicon of a language:

“language of the gods” “language of men”
aesthetically marked aesthetically unmarked
language of poets (early Irish bérla na filed) language of prose
“tongue of angels” (1 Corinthians 13:1) “tongue of men”


2. (p. 39) Boundary sensitive:

Verse lines correspond to sentence, clause, phrase boundaries.
Play of figures for initial, second, pre-final, and final positions.
Sensitive vertically and horizontally.

3. (p. 40) Non-configurational vs. configurational:

separation; disjunction of constituents adjoined constituents – NA, NG, split NP
flexible word orders set word orders
distinctive movement rules governed by movement rules
creation; freedom; complexity; asymmetry; chaos; liberal; agency; variation convention; standard; simplicity; symmetry; order; conservative; law; repetition


4. (p. 41) Formulas:

Traditional themes – hero slays the dragon, bard memorializes hero/king/lord/Lord, and others.
Formulaic figures – sounds
syntax
senses

Set phrases –

PROTECT MEN and LIVESTOCK; WIVES, CHILDREN, and CATTLE
IMPERISHABLE FAME; ETERNAL RENOWN; ETERNITY
The LORD is my SHEPHERD (= “king”)
BARD eulogizes PATRON; PATRON’S GIFT to BARD
PRESERVE TRADITION but SING A NEW SONG


Taxonomy of Formulaic Phrase Types

I. Simple (function: nominators; designators; symbolic signs).

1. Quantifiers (function: totality of notion).

a. Argument + Negative Argument (with negation morphemes).
Vedic: “the seen and the unseen”


b. Argument + Counter Argument (with antonyms).
Greek: “gods above and below”


2. Qualifiers (function: intensification).

a. Argument + Negative Counter-Argument (litotes, with negation morphemes).
Old Persian: “true and not false” = “absolutely true”


b. Argument + Synonymous Argument (non-litotes; with synonyms).
Old English: “safe and sound” = “very safe”
Greek: “prayer and incantations” = “earnest prayer”


II. Complex (function: connectors; symbolic and indexical signs).

1. Kenning A + B = C (metaphoric, relation of similarity, relational, often genitive).
Greek “horse of the sea” =
Old Irish “milk of grain” =
Hittite “dog of the river” =
Greek “house carrier” =
Old English “shepherd of the people” =




2. Merism C: A, B (metonymic, relation of contiguity, copulative, synecdoche).
Hittite: “barley and spelt” =
Hittite: “grain and grapes” =
Greek: “bread and wine” =
Scriptural: “bread and water” =