[Lingtyp] function of fully reduplicated nouns

[Anvita Abbi]

Hi,
In Indian languages redupilcation of nouns indicates variety of meanings:
1) distributive 2) exclusive 3) accentuation and 4) attenuation. You may
refer to old publication *Reduplication in South Asian Languages. An Areal,
Typological and Historical Study. * by Anvita Abbi 1992. Nrw Delhi. Allied
Publishers. Examples are drawn from various Indian languages. There are
other related publications by me available at academia.edu
Anvita

Prof. Anvita Abbi (Ph.D. Cornell University)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anvita_Abbi
Adjunct Professor, Department of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, B.C.
Vancouver, Canada & B.B. Borkar Chair, Goa University, Goa
*Formerly: Guest Scientist, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary
Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.*
*Leverhulme Professor, SOAS, University of London, UK*
*Professor and Chair of the Centre for Linguistics*
*Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India*
*www.andamanese. <http://andamanese.net>org*






On Wed, Aug 6, 2025 at 7:21 PM Zahid Akter via Lingtyp <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:

> 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
>
>
> Sent from Outlook <http://aka.ms/weboutlook>
> ------------------------------
> *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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