[Lingtyp] function of fully reduplicated nouns

[Zahid Akter]

Hi Joseph,

In Bangla (Bengali), noun reduplication can serve to diminish the intensity or impact of a concept, rather than exaggerate or amplify it. For example, amar jor hoyeche ‘I have a fever’ conveys a straightforward statement, while amar jor jor hoyeche implies a milder condition—something like ‘I feel a bit feverish’. Similarly, amta tok ‘the mango is sour’ becomes amta tok tok to mean ‘the mango is mildly sour’.

Thus, contrary to the use of reduplication for exaggeration as you've shown, this kind of nominal reduplication in Bangla downplays the noun’s effect, which may seem counterintuitive from an iconic perspective.

Best,
Zahid


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From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Joseph Brooks via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2025 6:45 AM
To: Linguistic Typology <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: [Lingtyp] function of fully reduplicated nouns

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone knows of any (cross-ling or for specific languages) work on this type of construction where a noun/phrase can be fully reduplicated for a superlative function or other meanings such as an especially remarkable or exaggerated instance of something. For ex in Chini (Lower Sepik-Ramu, PNG) anggunu 'mosquito' vs anggunu anggunu '(place known for) especially bad mosquitoes'. Or as in English 'man's man', 'deal of deals'.

Thanks,
Joseph
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