The Bilingual Chiasmus: A Unique Rhetorical Device for “Knotting” Words in Sumerian-Akkadian Literature

Abstract

The chiasmus is one of the most widespread rhetorical devices in world literature, and it appears in most languages. However, a completely different type of chiasmus is also possible: a chiasmus between different languages. Since multilingual compositions are less common, the bilingual chiasmus has not previously been researched in detail. The present paper analyzes this newly-discovered rhetorical device, exploring its applications in some Sumerian-Akkadian compositions and its relevance for the bilingual literature of the first millennium. Before we set out to analyze this further, I present a short overview of the unilingual chiasmus. The structure of the unilingual chiasmus is quite simple, consisting of the inversion of two pairs of words often arranged in two lines. Its etymology comes from the Ancient Greek χιάζω, “to shape like the letter χ”: in this way, two couples of words or word clusters are connected like a χ: AB // BA. The chiasmus applies to different grammatical entities: nouns and adjectives are the most common, but it also occurs with verbs and preposition.1 Some scholars, especially those outside of ancient Near Eastern studies, tend to distinguish between different types of chiasmi. The first, very simple type reverses two identical words pairs, as happens, for example, in Gilgameš, Enkidu and the Netherworld (lines 8–9) between an, “heaven,” and ki, “earth”: