פלוני היינו תנא קמא - איכא בינייהו: The evolution of a Talmudic formula

This article focuses on a question-answer formula found only in the Bavli: “X (ploni) Haynu Tanna Qamma / Y? Icka beinaihu…” (PHTQIB), “[The opinion of] X is [identical to] the first opinion of the Mishnah or baraita/Y? [No,] there is [a difference] between them…”, which compares two opinions appearing in a mishnah or baraita, one of which is usually the first, objecting that the two are essentially the same, and then offering a distinction between them. This phrase first appears in amoraic discourse as part of a dynamic exchange between two Amoraim, but in the redactional strata it becomes a formulaic rhetorical device—a stock phrase used to structure a statement in the form of a question and answer. Within the redactional strata this phrase takes on different forms and functions which appear to represent different stages of redactional activity. Analysis of the progression of this formula from a natural and malleable dialogical element within a sugya to an artificial fixed rhetorical device points to several features that appear to characterize the later stages of the formulation of Bavli sugyot: (1) Redactors often add on, rather than revise; (2) they attempt to preserve the appearance of dialogue; (3) they may do so by reproducing existing rhetorical formulations, even when they do not fit well within the new context.