Ellipsis, brachylogy and other forms of brevity in speech in ... - DWC

22 ELLIPSIS, BRACHYLOGY AND OTHER FORMS OF BREVITY
These juxtapositions are a favourite means of emphasizing contrasts and
the omission of substantives no doubt substantially added to the pointedness
and 'mystic' value of these expressions : cf. 6, 17, 6 amiisu pakvar[L ... ni
didhalj,; of course G.'s "hast du ... die gekochte (Milcb) in die rohen
(Kühe) gelegt" is meant, but I for one am not sure whether an ellipsis
proper was 'intended' by the poet. Cf. also 4, 3, 9, etc. 70 ) In 1, 115, 2 G.'s
supplementation "(Tun)" is unnecessary: although the adjectives apply
to different nominal concepts both of them may be described as somethmg
"auspicious": prati bhadraya bhadram (sc. yugam).
In 1, 162, 7 and similar cases the addition of the substantive was unnecessary
because the adjective is an epithet referrmg to, or recallmg, the
nominal concept on which attention is being focussed: vitapr§thalj, "straightbacked"
is the horse tb which the sUkta is dedicated. Cf. also 1, 22, 17
padam j' .. . piir[Lsure (sc. pade); 6, 17, 12; 25, 6 where vyacasvanta "zwei
ausgedehnte (Völkerschaften", G.) refers to ubhayolj,.
A more special nominal sense determining the general meaning of the
adjective may indeed be supplied from another word occurring in the same
sentence: 6, 16, 20 sa hi visvati pii'rthiva rayir[L dasan " ... Reichtum über
alle irdischen (Schätze) hinaus"; 6, 6, 7 where rayim in c may be supplied
in a and b; 1,33, 11 where af ter the communication that the waters flowed
the adj. navyanam "navigable" requires the noun "waters" or "river" ;
6, 47, 8. Cf. also 1, 32, 7; 33, 6.
There are of course remarkable complications, for instance 1, 127, 5 avo
vyanto aiara agnayo vyanto aiaralj" where the fust aiaralj, is not accompanied
by a noun (sc. "Flammen", G.); elsewhere also aiara- alone stands for
Agni or fue (e.g. 6, 68, 9), or for bis flames (1, 143, 1; 3, 18,2); the expression
Was stereotyped. Cf. also 6,16,45 ud ... dyumadaiasrery,adavidyutat, where
ai. of course stands for the inextmguishable flame of the god; 6, 6, 7
candräbhilj, (sc. Agni's flames). According to G. tam aghat . .. rak§atä and
piithana sar[Lsat in 1, 166,8 means a. (sc. sar[Lsat) and s. (sc. aghat); however
S. may be right: a. = piipiit.
Instanees such as 3, 8, 10 srngary,ivec chrngiry,iim "like the horns of those
who have horns" the idea of "animais" is of course mentally to be supplied ;
but has it ever been a necessity?
In a considerable frequency of cases it is not only an adjective, but also
the verb of the sentence - nay the whole context - which cooperates to
make a passage in whicb an important substantive is wanting perfectly
intelligible. The Roman author Tertullianus who attempted to avoid
redundancies 71) wrote (Scorp. 12) albam (sc. vestem) vestiri "to be dressed in
white". 1, 49, 1 U§O bhadrebhir a gahi / divas cid rocaniid adhi "0 U. do thou
70) Renou, Ét. véd. et päl}.. I, p. 37 seems to go too far in saying that this allusion
"fait partie intégrante du rébus". I would prefer: 'esoterical brevity'.
71) See H. Hoppe, Beiträge zur Sprache und Kritik Tertullians, Lund, 1932, p. 143.