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On the Emergent Trochaic Cadence / × in Old Norse Fornyrðislag Meter: Statistical and Comparative Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2008

Seiichi Suzuki
Seiichi Suzuki*
Affiliation:
Kansai Gaidai University
*
Kansai Gaidai University, 16-1 Nakamiya-higashino, Hirakata 573-1001, Japan, [[email protected]]
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Abstract

Through statistical and comparative investigations of eddic poetry, I show that Old Norse fornyrðislag meter is sharply distinguished from its West Germanic cognates by its strong preference for the trochaic cadence lift + drop in the b-verse. This unique feature is claimed to have induced the radical redistribution and reorganization of the major metrical types, types A, B, and C in fornyrðislag. Furthermore, I suggest that this favored cadence served as a basis for the fixed cadence of dróttkvætt meter by generalization and reanalysis.*

Type
ARTICLES
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 53 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Germanic Linguistics 2008

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References

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