μεῖζον μεῖζον, μικρὸν μικρόν
(Antiatt. μ 22, Antiatt. μ 23)

D. General commentary

The expressions μεῖζον μεῖζον and μικρὸν μικρόν are instances of reduplication, a phenomenon that also concerns the preceding lemma, Antiatt. μ 21 on μᾶλλον μᾶλλον as well as the following, Antiatt. μ 24 (μίαν μίαν). We therefore have here a small, thematic section in which the Antiatticist deals with the same linguistic phenomenon (an overview of Greek reduplication is provided in the entry on μᾶλλον μᾶλλον). μεῖζον μεῖζον and μικρὸν μικρόν occur in the same line in cod. Par. Coisl. 345Par. Coisl. 345 and are edited as one lemma by Bekker (1814–1821 vol. 1, 108.7). This would mean that epitomisation caused the loss of the interpretation for μεῖζον μεῖζον, since the surviving interpretation ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀεὶ κατὰ μικρόν refers only to μικρὸν μικρόν.

Valente (2015) chooses to split the two sequences across two lemmas. His decision is guided by the fact that in editing Antiph. fr. 10 (C.1), Kassel and Austin signal in their apparatus that they view only μικρὸν μικρόν as belonging to Antiphanes’ fragment. This is probably the right choice, given that these two reduplicated expressions, though structurally identical, have different functions and semantics, and are therefore unlikely to have been included in the same explanation. μεῖζον μεῖζον is not found in any text apart from Antiph. fr. 10, the locus classicus quoted by the Antiatticist (the occurrence of μεῖζον καὶ μεῖζον in Maximus Planudes, Epistulae 119.99 is a ‘false friend’ in that it modifies a preceding κακόν). It is probably an instance of reduplication with an intensifying function (like μᾶλλον μᾶλλον ‘more and more’) and an emphasis on size (‘bigger and bigger’: unlike μᾶλλον μᾶλλον, where the emphasis is on quantity). On the other hand, in μικρὸν μικρόν the reduplication of an adverb of quantity expresses gradation, as shown by the interpretamentum κατὰ μικρόν ‘little by little’. Semantics aside, the occurrence of the two reduplicated expressions in two successive Antiatticist lemmas is clearly motivated by the antonymic nature of their headwords.

μικρὸν μικρόν as such is not attested elsewhere in ancient Greek texts, including inscriptions and papyri, though it resurfaces sporadically in some later Byzantine works (e.g. Nicolaus Catascepenus, Vita sancti Cyrilli Phileotae 37.1.7; George Pachymeres, Historia brevis 4.31.82). By far the most normal expression is κατὰ μικρὸν μικρὸν, first attested in the Septuagint (C.2, C.3). The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (C.4) also corroborates the existence of the variant πρὸς μικρὸν μικρὸν. κατὰ μικρὸν μικρὸν itself is a strengthening of the simple κατὰ μικρὸν, a very common phrase in Ancient Greek. The Antiatticist’s interpretation, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀεὶ κατὰ μικρόν, shows that κατά κατά was part of the common intensifying strategies used for μικρόν (see too C.6, C.7). As with μᾶλλον μᾶλλον, the attention given to μικρὸν μικρὸν in the Antiatticist may have been sparked by its rarity in relation to other, more common variants.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

For the few Byzantine instances of μικρὸν μικρόν, see D.. μικρόν μικρόν continues into Modern Greek, but with a different meaning: it instead expresses emphasis (‘very small’: see example no. 8.12 in Kallergi 2015, 312). Semantically speaking, the corresponding expressions would be λίγο λίγο ‘little by little’, gradually’ or μικρόν κατά μικρόν ‘gradually’.

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A