hendiadys

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Hendiadys [henˈdaıədıs] (a Latinized form of the Greek phrase ἓν διὰ δυοῖν, hèn dià duoîn, "one through two") is a figure of speech used for emphasis — "The substitution of a conjunction for a subordination". The basic idea is to use two words linked by a conjunction to express a single complex idea.

English names for hendiadys include two for one and figure of twinnes.

Use and effect

The typical result of a hendiadys is to transform a noun-plus-adjective into two nouns joined by a conjunction. For example, "sound and fury" (from act V, scene 5 of Macbeth) seems to offer a more striking image than "furious sound". In this example, as typically, the subordinate idea originally present in the adjective is transformed into a noun in and of itself. In fact, hendiadys is most effective in English when the adjective and noun form of the word are identical. Thus "the cold wind went down the hall" becomes "the cold and the wind went down the hall."

When hendiadys fails in its effects, it can sound merely redundant. For example, cum amicitia atque pace, “with friendship and peace” is often translated instead as “with peaceful friendship.”

In classical and early Christian literature

Hendiadys is often used in Latin poetry; many examples occur in Virgil's Aeneid.

In the Greek New Testament this is seen in Christologically significant texts, such as Titus 2:13 τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (our great 'God and Saviour' Jesus Christ) and 2 Peter 1:1 τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (our 'God and Saviour' Jesus Christ).^[1]

"The kingdom, the power and the glory" (from the Lord's Prayer) extends the principle, transforming the idea of a "glorious, powerful kingdom" into a sequence of three nouns joined by a conjunction.

See also

Look up hendiadys in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hendiatris, one through three
• Litotes, a form of understatement for emphasis

References

• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 678. ISBN 0-674-36250-0. 
• George T. Wright, "Hendiadys and Hamlet." PMLA 96:2 (1981) 168-93.

Wallace, Daniel B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan. pp. 276-7. ISBN 0-310-21895-0.