reduplication (fwd from Linguist list)
Yuphaphann Hoonchamlong
yui at alpha.tu.ac.th
Thu Sep 23 09:18:38 UTC 1999
>
> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 10:08:43 -0400 (EDT)
> From: "Harold F. Schiffman" <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> Subject: Word Formation
>
> I have a question about a word-formation process in English that has
> parallels in other languages, but has not (to my knowledge) been discussed
> much, or even *named*.
A. Sudaporn Laksaneeyanawin of Chula has written something about this
in Thai langauge--she
called it (following Phya Amumanrajadhon in Niruktisaat):euphonic couplets
here's the reference:
1982. Euphonic couplets : another aspect of phonetics and semantics in
Thai. Journal of Letters. Faculty of Arts. Chulalongkorn University.
14. Jan. pp. 11-34. (In Thai)
*******************************
Yuphaphann Hoonchamlong yui at alpha.tu.ac.th
Department of Linguistics http://www.tu.ac.th/~yui/
Thammasat University Thai Language Audio Resource Center:
Bangkok, Thailand 10200 http://thaiarc.tu.ac.th
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>
> I'm referring to the process of partial reduplication of syllables,
> sometimes rhyming, other times partial rhymes or with the pattern
> CV1C-CV2C, i.e. "zig-zag", "hip-hop", etc. These forms are often used as
> diminutives ("teeny-tiny", "teeny-weeny", "eensy-beensy"), pejoratively
> (willy-nilly, shilly-shally, dilly-dally, fancy-shmancy), ironically,
> dismissively (artsy-craftsy, artsy-fartsy), or perhaps even
> affectionately. This parallels their use/meaning in other languages to
> some extent, though reduplication in (say) Indonesian, has other
> "meanings".
>
> 1. One kind is fairly old, and seems more like reduplication, or partial
> reduplication. This is the sort like "helter-skelter", "hodge-podge"
> where there is either little intrinsic (lexical or referential) meaning
> (what is a helter? a skelter?) or one element has meaning but the other is
> not so clear (teeny-weeny?). There are also onomatopoeic pairs like
> tick-tock, ding-dong, pitter-patter, and non-onomatopoeic terms like
> peg-leg, ticky-tacky, etc. My dictionary says that "shilly-shally" is
> based on "shall-he" plus reduplicative "shilly"; and that "willy-nilly"
> comes from "will he" (or won't he?).
>
> 2. Another kind I see as quite productive, and used a lot in brand names
> or in what look like simplifications of more complicated terms. Thus:
>
> Zany-brainy, Smarte-cart, dust-buster [ghost-buster, fuzz-buster, based
> originally on 19th century trust-buster], Mod-Squad, and non-brand names
> like zoot-suit, motor-voter, queen of mean, snail-mail, schlemiel-appeal,
> boob-tube, airy-fairy, arts-craftsy [also artsy-fartsy].
> Four-on-the-floor, or 4x4 [four by four] for 4-wheel drive vehicles...,
> ficto-facto, sci-fi, vi-spy (Virus-Spy, a virus detector, based on "I spy"
> or ?), mall-crawl (cf. "pub crawl"), poop-scoop.
>
> In the "Queen of Mean" type we have rhyming with a preposition in between;
> there are also types like ass-gaskets, dust-buster, which have other
> material.
>
> The process in English is not "regular" as it is in, e.g. Yiddish, where
> we get the formula C(etc.)-shm(etc.) as in "fancy-shmancy". (And of course
> the Yiddish pattern is borrowed into English, but it's not the only way to
> do this.) The languages of India have similar patterns, e.g. the
> Dravidian languages have the pattern CV(etc.) ki(etc.) as in Tamil "puli
> kili" and the meaning is "X and things like it" (puli-kili "tigers and
> similar animals" kaappi-kiippi "coffee and other beverages" pooyTTu-kiiTTu
> "going and other activities") The meaning in Dravidian is sometimes
> pejorative/ironic/sarcastic, but not necessarily. In Dravidian lgs. at
> least one can even reduplicate verbs (Tamil [pooyTTu-kiiTTu] "going and
> other activities", "(too much) coming and going" (hustling and bustling
> around). This is pervasive in S. Asia and there is an English name for it,
> "Hobson-Jobson" (though Hobson-Jobson was a term to deprecate other
> peculiarities of S. Asian English).
>
> There have been some messages lately about how rhyme helps in memory;
> these terms are more certainly more memorable than non-rhyming types, I'll
> wager.
>
> 1. My first question is, does anyone know of research on this subject,
> including perhaps even a *dictionary/lexicon* of various forms? I see
> this as a productive process in English that gets little documentation. I
> am constantly saving examples I find used in the media, on TV, etc. but
> don't appear in any dictionary.
>
> 2. Second question is what do we call this kind of word-formation process
> in English? Partial reduplication? Rhyming pairs/phrases? Usually the
> reduplication is only partial, though we do get a few complete
> reduplications, e.g. "dumb-dumb", "dodo" "din-din" (dinner) Some of this
> may be "baby-talk" or pseudo-baby talk (wa-wa for 'water') which spills
> over into diminutives and or affectionate usages, e.g. for nicknames
> (Baba, Lulu, etc.)
>
> 3. Although some of these appear in dictionaries ("helter-skelter" etc.)
> many don't, so I am thinking of compiling a lexicon of these, which I may
> ask people to contribute to via the Web. If I elicit any interest in
> this, I'll send another message.
>
> Hal Schiffman
>
> =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
> Harold F. Schiffman
> Academic Director
> Henry R. Luce Professor of Language Learning Penn Language Center
> Dept. of South Asia Regional Studies 715-16 Williams Hall
> 820 Williams Hall, Box 6305 Box 6305
>
> University of Pennsylvania
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
>
> Phone: (215) 898-5825 (215) 898-6039
> Fax: (215) 573-2138 Fax (215) 573-2139
>
> Email: haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn plc at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> WWW: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/ http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~plc/
>
>
>
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