2. Other Technical Terms

adynaton or impossibilia, a form of hyperbole involving reference to an impossible or catastrophic event, e.g. ‘the sky will shatter before such a hero is seen again’

apo koinou, construction in which the same element has a role in more than one clause

appellative, a common noun as opposed to a proper name

base-word, member of a kenning (see below) that is modified by a qualifier, called the determinant

cliticise, to add an enclitic syllable to a word (see enclitic below)

complex kenning, an extended kenning (see below)

desyllabification, syllabic liquids and nasals developing an excrescent vowel, in Icelandic usually involving the addition of [u] before [r]

determinant, qualifier of a base-word in a kenning, consisting either of a noun or name in the genitive or of the first element of a compound

dip, a metrically unstressed syllable

elision, omission of a sound or sounds within a word or phrase, e.g. where two vowels would stand in hiatus

enclitic, monosyllabic word, usually a particle, verb or pronoun, added as a suffix to another word (see also cliticise and bragarmál above)

enclitic position, post-position (as opposed to proclitic position)

epenthesis (epenthetic, adjective), a sound, usually a particle, verb or pronoun, added as a suffix to another word (see also cliticise and bragarmál above)

excrescent, a sound, usually a vowel, inserted between two others (see epenthesis)

extended kenning, a kenning in which one or more determinant (or occasionally the base-word) is itself a kenning (see rekit and tvíkent above); also known as complex kenning

fornaldarsögur, ‘sagas of ancient time’, a modern term for legendary and heroic sagas, usually set in Scandinavia before the settlement of Iceland

hypermetrical, a poetic line containing more syllables (metrical positions) than is normal for the metre in question

hypometrical, a poetic line containing fewer syllables (metrical positions) than is normal for the metre in question

impossibilia, see adynaton

inverted kenning, an extended kenning (see above) containing a compound whose second element is a base-word, but whose two elements do not in themselves form a kenning, e.g. handa logreifir ‘presenter of the flame of hands [(lit. ‘flame-presenter of hands’) gold > generous man]’, where logreifir is not itself a kenning, but handa log- ‘flame of hands’ is a kenning for ‘gold’ which qualifies ‑reifir ‘presenter’ to give ‘presenter of gold’,  hence ‘generous man’

kenning, nominal periphrasis, consisting of a base-word and one or more determinants

lectio difficilior, ‘more difficult reading’, sometimes preferred to a lectio facilior by editors, on the basis that if corruption occurs it is more likely to replace rare usages by common ones than the reverse

lectio facilior, ‘easier reading’, see lectio difficilior

lift, a metrically stressed syllable

litotes, understatement, in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite

metonymy, the substitution of a word referring to an attribute or adjunct for the whole thing that is meant

neutralisation, a metrical situation in which two short syllables occupy one unstressed metrical position in a line

nomen agentis, ‘agent noun’, a noun derived from a verb, denoting a person who is carrying out the action implicit in the verb

pars pro toto, ‘part for whole’, a figure of speech in which part of something is used to refer to the whole thing

pleonastic, syllable, word, or phrase that is superfluous

proclitic position, pre-position (as opposed to enclitic position)

referent, the unmentioned cognitive meaning value of a kenning, e.g. the referent of the kenning logi fjarðar ‘flame of the fjord’ is ‘gold’

resolution, two short syllables occupying one fully stressed metrical position in a line

siglum (pl. sigla), abbreviation, usually a combination of alphanumerical symbols, used to designate a specific manuscript and/or the collection in which it is found

solecism, solecismus, grammatical irregularity, e.g. change of tense, plural used in place of singular

stanza, a group of poetic lines, arranged according to a regular scheme; one of a series of such groups, which together make up a poem

stemma (pl. stemmata), a diagram representing a reconstruction of the relationships between the surviving and postulated witnesses to a text

synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a semantically narrower term is substituted for a broader one, or vice versa; it commonly consists of pars pro toto (see above)

tmesis, the separation of a word or compound into two parts, with another word or words between them

References