ABSTRACT
Dyads (also known as doubles) occur frequently in bilingual communities where they are an easy way of ensuring understanding. Many developed in English after the Norman Conquest and some survive:
full and plenty (Middle English full+Norman French plenté= full) goods and chattels (ME god+NF chatel=property)
A number of writers from the fifteenth century onwards have used dyads as a stylistic device and the technique was further ingrained in the language by the use of such phrases in the Bible as:
And Jesus spoke to the multitude saying… And he waxed and grew strong.
