Positive reinforced by negated oppositeModern politicians often emphasize a concept by adding ‘not (the opposite)’:
‘the many, not the few’; ‘the future, not the past’. This is an ancient figure that
can be documented especially, though not exclusively, from the Graeco-Aryan
traditions.^103 I give a selection from many examples.
From Vedic: RV 7. 59. 12 mr
̇
tyór muks
̇̄ya, maı ̄ ́mr ́
̇ta ̄t, ‘may I free myself from
death, not from non-dying’; 8. 62. 12 satyám... Índram
̇
stava ̄ma, na ̄ ́nr
̇tam,
‘let us praise Indra in truth, not in falsehood’; AV 5. 13. 4 áhe mriyásva, ma ̄ ́
jı ̄vı ̄h
̇
, ‘die, snake, do not live’.
From Avestan: Y. 30. 3 åsca ̄ hudåŋho ̄ərəsˇ v ı ̄sˇ ́ya ̄ta ̄, no ̄it
̃duzˇdåŋho ̄, ‘and
between them well-doers discriminate rightly, not ill-doers’; 46. 8 ya ̄ı ̄m
hujya ̄to ̄is ˇ p a ̄ya ̄t
̃
, no ̄it
̃duzˇjya ̄to ̄is ˇ, ‘such as to keep him from good living, not
from bad living’; 48. 5 huxsˇaθra ̄ xsˇə ̄ n
̇
ta ̨m, ma ̄ nə ̄ dusˇx sˇaθra ̄ xsˇə ̄ n
̇ta ̄, ‘let good
rulers rule, do not let bad rulers rule us’.
From Old Persian: DB iv 44 hasˇiyam, naiy duruxtam, ‘true, not false’; DNb
7 ra ̄stam dausˇt a ̄ amiy, miθa naiy dausˇt a ̄ amiy, ‘I am a friend of right, I am not
a friend of wrong’.
From Greek: Hes. Th. 551 γνω
m’ο1δ’(γνοησε δο ́ λον, ‘he recognized
the trick and did not fail to recognize it’;Il. 1. 416 μνυνθα ́ περ,οO τι μα ́ λα
δ ν, ‘for a short time, not for very long’; 5. 816 $ρω #πο ο1δ’$πικε3σω,
‘I will say my word and not withhold it’.
In an old Dutch juridical formula: ic ghebiede lust ende ic verbiede onlust,
‘I demand attention, and I forbid inattention’. From an Old Irish prayer:
do·m-thí áes, ní·m-thí bás, ‘may life come to me, may death not come to me’.
From a Gaelic song: ‘I lie down with God, and God will lie down with me; I
will not lie down with Satan, nor shall Satan lie down with me.’^104
In certain cases the instinct to create a figure of this type has provoked the
coining of an irregular negative substantive: Y. 31. 10 at
̃
hı ̄ ayå fravarəta ̄
va ̄strı ̄m ... no ̄it
̃
, Mazda ̄, ava ̄stryo ̄ ... humərəto ̄is ˇ baxsˇt a ̄, ‘of these two (the
cow) chose the herdsman... The non-herdsman, Wise One,... enjoys no
good regard’; 31. 17 vı ̄dvå vı ̄dusˇe ̄ mraotu ̄, ma ̄əvı ̄dvå aipi də ̄ ba ̄vayat
̃
, ‘let the
knowing one speak to the knowing, let the unknowing delude no longer’;
Hes. Op. 355 δ.τηι μν τι #δωκεν,α, δ.τηι δ’ οO τι #δωκεν, ‘to the
giver one gives, to the non-giver none gives’.
(^103) H. Humbach, MSS 14 (1959), 23–33; Gonda (1959), 87–108; Schmitt (1967), 266–9;
Campanile (1977), 104–7.
(^104) Dutch formula adduced by E. Schwyzer, Zeitschrift für Indologie und Iranistik 7 (1929),
105; Irish text edited by Campanile, SSL 6 (1966), 161, 10 f.; Gaelic song in Carmichael
(1928–59), i. 80 f.
- Phrase and Figure 105