[Lexicog] Reduplication with sound change

[John Roberts]

This past week I have been working with an Indo-Iranian language and I came
across this form:



utāğ    sətā-mətā-yā
room  voice-voice-be.pres.3sg.su

‘The room is full of talking.’



It is an example of reduplication with sound change. The base formant is
*sətā *‘voice/sound’ and the reduplicate is *mətā*. The first segment is
changed *s* ® *m*.



Reduplication with sound change is also fairly productive in spoken Persian
(Indo-Iranian) and some examples are:



čiz        ®        *čiz-miz*

‘thing’               ‘things’



bačče   ®        *bačče-mačče*

‘child’               ‘children’



qāti       ®        *qāti-pāti*

‘mix’                ‘mishmash’



pul        ®        *pul-mul*

‘money’            ‘some money’



The initial consonant in the reduplicate changes to *m* or *p*. The
lexicographical interest is that such reduplicated forms are not usually
mentioned in Persian dictionaries.



English also has many such forms. In some there is a vowel change, e.g.
*mishmash*, *dribs and drabs*, *clip-clop*, *hippity-hoppity*. In others
there is a consonant change, e.g. *pell-mell*, *willy-nilly*. There are a
large number where the reduplicate has an *h*, e.g. *hanky-panky*,
*helter-skelter*, *higgledy-piggledy*, *holus-bolus*, *huff and puff*.
Depending on the English dictionary, these forms may or may not appear. For
example, Collins COBUILD has *hee-haw* but not *heebie-jeebies*, while NODE
has *tip-top* but not *tish-tosh*.



In Amele (Papuan) reduplication with a vowel change is integral to the verb
derivational system. E.g.



ihuldoc                    ‘to mix’ ®

*ihul-ahaldoc*         ‘to mix haphazardly’



gasuec                    ‘to search’ ®

*gasu-gisiec*          ‘to search here and there’



faleec                     ‘to flash’ ®

*fale-fuleec*           ‘to flash intermittently’



falicdoc                   ‘to turn’ ®

*falic-fulucdoc*       ‘to revolve’



gilidoc                     ‘to move’ ®

*gili-golodoc*          ‘to move from side to side’



gondoc                    ‘to turn aside’ ®

*gon-gindoc*           ‘to zigzag’



beledec                   ‘to scrape’ ®

*bele-buludoc*        ‘to scrape all over’



I also understand that in Cantonese this type of reduplication occurs where
the reduplicated segments stay the same but there is a tone change.



Does your language have reduplication with sound change? If so what form
does it take and how much of it, if any, do you enter into your dictionary?



John Roberts







------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/HKE4lB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->


Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/