The Phenomenon of Reduplication as a Method of Word Formation in Modern French, Spanish, English and Russian Languages

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the specifics of the implementation of such a method of word formation as reduplication. The analysis of the linguistic material indicates a fairly wide distribution of this phenomenon in modern French, Spanish, English and Russian. The authors study the features of the implementation of various types of reduplication in the studied languages, and also consider in detail the features of their functioning. The material for the study is examples of reduplicative units from the press and from open sources on the Internet. In the course of the study, methods such as the analysis of theoretical literature, the method of comparative analysis, the method of continuous sampling, as well as observation and generalization, were used. The novelty of the study lies in identifying the dynamics of the functional development of reduplications in the French, Spanish, English and Russian vocabulary in the modern period. The study showed that, although the principles of formation of different types of reduplicative units are comparable in modern French, Spanish, English and Russian, however, there are pronounced differences in the preference for the areas of use of types of reduplication in different languages under study. Of particular interest is the fact that French is characterized by the widespread use of reduplication in the formation of nicknames of famous people from the world of politics and show business, whereas in Spanish, English and Russian it is a rather rare phenomenon.