Adynaton

Adynaton (plural adynata) is a figure of speech in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to insinuate a complete impossibility:[1]

The word derives from the Greek ἀδύνατον (adunaton), neuter of ἀδύνατος (adunatos), "unable, impossible" (a-, "without" + dynasthai, "to be powerful").[3]

Classical and Medieval usage

Adynaton was a widespread literary and rhetorical device during the Classical Period. Its plural form (adynata) was translated in Latin as impossibilia. A frequent usage was to refer to one highly unlikely event occurring sooner than another:

One can expect an agreement between philosophers sooner than between clocks. Seneca, "The Pumpkinification of Claudius".

However it largely fell into disuse during the Middle Ages before undergoing a minor revival in the works of romantic poets, who would boast of the power of their love, and how it could never end.

Together, we shall sooner see, I, & you, The Rhône tarry, & reverse its course, The Saône roil, & return to source, Than this my fire ever die down Maurice Scève

Fiction, folklore and drama

Adynata are sometimes used within works of fiction or drama:

Part heat from fire, then, by that notion,
Part frost from snow, wet from the ocean!
Ask less!      Henrik Ibsen, Brand

Impossible tasks appear often in legends and folklore, such as the tale of "The Spinning-Woman by the Spring", and can form elements of ballads, riddles and proverbs.

Modern usage

Some modern adynata include:

See also

Look up adynaton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. Stephen Cushman; Clare Cavanagh; Jahan Ramazani; Paul Rouzer (26 August 2012). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4008-4142-4. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  2. Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2
  3. ἀδύνατος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  4. Keti Nicheva (1987). Bŭlgarska frazeologii︠a︡. Nauka i izkustvo. p. 99. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  5. M. Leonidova (1986). Problemy strukturno-semanticheskoĭ tipologii bolgarskikh i russkikh frazelogizmov. Gos. izd-vo Narodna Prosveta. p. 155. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  6. 1 2 )
  7. Leon Gillet. Spaans Idiomaticum Herbekeken. Spaans-Nederlands. Academia Press. pp. 185–. ISBN 978-90-382-1141-1. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  8. Christine Ammer (1997). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin. p. 709. ISBN 978-0-395-72774-4. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  9. Paul Heacock (22 September 2003). Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge University Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-521-53271-6. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  10. The Free Dictionary - not have a snowball's chance in hell. Retrieved on 2013-07-15.
  11. kun lehmät lentävät - Sivistyssanakirja, synonyymit - Suomi Sanakirja. Suomisanakirja.fi. Retrieved on 2013-05-27.
  12. Roy Fuller (1 January 2000). Animal Idioms. Presses Univ. du Mirail. p. 122. ISBN 978-2-85816-539-1. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  13. Derrick De Kerckhove; Martina Leeker; Kerstin Schmidt (2008). McLuhan neu lesen: Kritische Analysen zu Medien und Kultur im 21. Jahrhundert. transcript Verlag. p. 485. ISBN 978-3-89942-762-2. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  14. Éva Szabó (2005). Hungarian Practical Dictionary: Hungarian-English, English-Hungarian. Hippocrene Books. p. 431. ISBN 978-0-7818-1068-5. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  15. Mioara Avram; Marius Sala (2000). May We Introduce the Romanian Language to You?. Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House. p. 157. ISBN 978-973-577-224-6. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  16. Matthew Lawry (25 July 2012). The Phonetic Guide to Italian: Learn Italian in about a Year. AuthorHouse. p. 285. ISBN 978-1-4772-1927-0. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  17. Dzidra Kalnin̦a (2003). Angl̦u-latviešu, latviešu-angl̦u vārdnīca. Avots. ISBN 978-9984-700-90-8. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  18. Ainon binti Mohd & Abdullah bin Hassan (2005). Kamus Peribahasa Kontemporari - Edisi Ke-2. PTS Professional. p. 431. ISBN 978-983-3376-38-4. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  19. Kattakada. "Malayalam Adynation". Wikisource. Wikimedia. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  20. Cristina Mourón Figueroa; Teresa Moralejo Gárate (1 January 2006). Studies in Contrastive Linguistics: Proceedings of the 4th International Contrastive Linguistics Conference, Santiago de Compostela, September, 2005. Univ Santiago de Compostela. p. 361. ISBN 978-84-9750-648-9. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  21. Azussa Matsuoka; Luciene Ferreira da Silva Guedes (November 2009). "Análise das construções idiomáticas negativas enfáticas" (PDF). Gatilho (in Portuguese) (Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora).
  22. Mark G. Nash; Willians Ramos Ferreira (2009). Michaelis Dicionário de Expressões Idiomáticas (Dictionary). Editora Melhoramentos. p. 151. when pigs fly Amer dit (...) Algo como: 'quando a galinha criar dentes'; no dia de São Nunca.
  23. Agnes Arany-Makkai (1 September 1996). Russian Idioms. Barron's. p. 222. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  24. Željko Bujas (1999). English-Croatian dictionary. Globus. p. 487. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  25. Rafael Ordozgoiti de la Rica; Ignacio Pérez Jiménez (1 January 2003). Imagen de marca. ESIC Editorial. p. 147. ISBN 978-84-7356-342-0. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  26. “Cuando la rana eche pelos”… ¡y realmente lo hizo! ~ Culturizando. Culturizando.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-27.
  27. Hjalmar Bergman (1952). Samlade skrifter: Farmor och vår herre. Bonnier. p. 137. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  28. Hacettepe University journal of the Faculty of Letters. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi. 2001. p. 50. Retrieved 24 September 2013.

References and further reading

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