Alliterating Word-Pairs in Old High German: Approaching a Rhetorical Evaluation

Abstract

A survey of the Old High German texts provides a number of significant finds relating to the early use, frequency, and distribution of alliterating word-pairs. In the presentation and analysis of selected data, parameters for addressing a more complete rhetorical evaluation of the phraseologisms as they appear in the texts are outlined, with consideration of issues such as transmission, source influence, genre, and dialect. Contours of the early history of the alliterating word-pair in German are presented, while perspectives for further research are sketched. An appendix lists the entire corpus of Old High German alliterating word-pairs.