Paired Adjectives in the Middle Welsh Ystorya Bown o Hamtwn
Oksana Dereza
Moscow State University
Abstract
One of the stylistic devices typical for Medieval Welsh literature is the usage of paired adjectives. It occurs not only in the native tales but also in the adaptations of Continental material, such as an Old French romance of chivalry Geste de Boeve de Haumtone. Predominantly, the paired adjectives in the Welsh source Ystorya Bown o Hamtwn neither have any equivalents in the French source nor correspond to “adverb mult, tut, si, plus, bien + adjective” construction. This fact is indicative of the translator’s independence in stylistic organization of the text; it also draws our attention to the emphatic nature of paired adjectives. An adjective pair usually consists of either two synonyms or two words denoting attributes of a certain character or object: cadarn-wychyr “strong and brave”. However, there can be more than two adjectives in a “pair”; this stylistic device also covers other parts of speech.