Reduplication Constructions Research Articles

За характерните черти на българския разговорен синтаксис

The article briefly presents some of the most specific features of the syntax of the Bulgarian colloquial speech: the special syntactic constructions that occur in informal communication (reduplicative constructions, elliptical constructions, reconstructions, hyperbats, anacoluthons, etc.), the different word order, the specific usage of the coordinating and subordinating connectives (defined in syntactical literature as colloquial), the frequent presence of asyndetism (conjunctionless connection of individual elements in the utterance and of different utterances), the rivalry between parataxis and hypo-taxis emerging in the conversation, etc. All these characteristic features clearly distinguish the colloquial syntax from the syntax of the Bulgarian literary (normative) language.

Radial Representations of the Semantics of Reduplicative Constructions in Nigerian Pidgin (Naija)

Abstract The purpose of this study is to account for the functions of reduplication Nigerian Pidgin in a more comprehensive way than in previous work, by shifting the focus away from de-contextualized assignments of unitary meaning, and toward a full range of context-sensitive readings. The data for the study come from Wazobia fm radio programmes, as well as interviews and focus group discussions with native speakers of the language. Reduplication is attested in word classes such as ideophones, adverbs, numerals, adjectives, nouns, verbs and pronouns in Nigerian Pidgin. Using a version of the prototype theory elaborated by Lakoff and other Cognitive linguists, I represent the various readings of reduplicative constructions for each word class as radial categories, and show that both central and peripheral meanings are attested, and are indeed motivated by varying degrees of family resemblance.

From Bound to Free: On the Degrammaticalization of the Polish Intensifying Prefix prze-

ABSTRACTBased on empirical material derived from the National Corpus of Polish and supplemental web-based sources, this paper provides an account of a recent change affecting the Polish intensifying prefix prze-, namely the emergence of its autonomous uses. It is argued that the development at issue exemplifies a rare linguistic process known as degrammaticalization, which incorporates phenomena running counter to a prototypical grammaticalization scenario. Firstly, the investigated Polish element seems to have undergone phonetic strengthening, as suggested by its relatively common separate spelling and occasional capitalization in non-edited, spontaneous written data. Secondly, the emancipated form has increased its morphosyntactic flexibility, as reflected by its appearance in reduplicative constructions, co-occurrence with verb phrases, independent occurrence in predicative settings, and the possibility of extraposition. And thirdly, it has been affected by semantic enrichment, i.e., it has additionally acquired an evaluative (positive) sense. The analyzed change is further claimed to be fueled by paradigmatic analogy to the frequent, well-established neoclassical elements super(-) and mega(-), which function as prefixal intensifiers as well as free intensifying and evaluative items, coupled with the general tendency for language change to involve renewal, whereby older expressive forms become superseded by novel, more vigorous expressions with the same meaning contents.

Gradience in iconicity

Abstract While it has largely been taken for granted by most linguists that the relationship between linguistic signifier and signified is arbitrary in nature, a growing number of studies suggest otherwise. In this article, we demonstrate that iconicity in total reduplicative constructions in Nigerian Pidgin is graded in nature, and that the degree of iconicity of any given reduplicative is largely correlated with the word class to which its simplex form belongs, with reduplicated ideophones and adverbials exhibiting the highest degree of iconicity, reduplicated pronouns the lowest degree of iconicity, and reduplicated adjectives, nouns, numerals and verbs intermediate degrees of iconicity. Our results shed light, not only on which word classes are more prototypically involved in reduplication than others in the world’s languages, but also on typical pathways that reduplicatives follow in processes of grammaticalization, whereby their isomorphic form-meaning relationship appears increasingly attenuated, albeit due to varying language-internal factors that are specific to individual languages.

The Intensifying Function of Reduplication in Contemporary Polish and Slovak

Abstract In this paper, I present and discuss the ways of intensifying in Polish and Slovak language communication using reduplication, because one of the semantic properties of reduplication is intensification. Various linguists have pointed out that reduplication may perform many different functions. Reduplication is also associated with a large subset of semantic and syntactic operations, including intensity. Although it is heavily semantically limited to adjectives and adverbs, it applies to nearly all parts of speech. According to its intensifying function, it is common in contemporary Slovak, being mainly associated with compound adjectives, i.e. šírošíry, číročíry, dennodenný. Reduplicative constructions are understood as independent language signs, formally and semantically different from their components. Reduplication means a reinforcement of a statement, so there are various semantic constraints on the reduplicant: it involves only gradable attributes and attributes denoting a higher degree of feature intensity (in plus). The reinforcement does not necessarily mean the increase of intensity of a state – the aim of reduplication is not only to modify but also to specify the meaning. Intensifying reduplication is one of the many ways of expressing the intensive degree or intensity of an action that is something above the assumed norm and it is a legitimate way of expanding the lexis.

La reduplicación léxica como mecanismo metalingüístico

The aim of the present article is to analyse the metalinguistic function of the nominal reduplication in Spanish. The lexical reduplication is a mechanism that consists in repeating a lexical unit within one phrase. The study shows that the nominal reduplication presents metalinguistic functions that reveal the interest of the speakers in a number of semantic issues related to the linguistic categorization and the concept of prototype. What is more, the metalinguistic aspect of the reduplicative constructions play a crucial role in a variety of situations as it entails some intersubjective meanings that are of a great importance for the interaction.

English adaptation in Mandarin A-not-A constructions

A-not-A refers to a Mandarin reduplication construction where the underlying form /RED-pu-A/ contains a reduplication of the first syllable in A. In this study I investigate the kinds of adaptations that occur when an English word serves as the base A in code-switching speech. Since the complex onsets and most codas allowed in English are illegal in Mandarin syllables, the reduplicated part is expected to adapt to Mandarin phonotactics to some degree. I ran a production experiment where 20 native Mandarin-speakers were asked to produce A-not-A constructions with 55 mono- and multi-syllabic English words. Results from the experiment showed varied adaptation methods in syllable structure and tones. To model the results, I used the Maximum Entropy Harmonic Grammar (MaxEnt) with weighted constraints on syllable structure markedness and base-reduplicant faithfulness.

Russian Constructions with Syntactic Reduplication of Colour Terms: A Corpus Study

Russian reduplicated constructions with colour terms have never previously been an object of a comprehensive corpus study. Nevertheless, they present considerable interest for a researcher because comparative ability of colour terms to be reduplicated reflects their semantic and pragmatic differences, whereas semantics and pragmatics of reduplication construction are revealed in the properties of colour terms that can fill its slots. Thus, the goal of the paper is to study semantic and pragmatic properties of Russian colour terms and Russian syntactic reduplication construction by analyzing their co-occurrence. We apply corpus methods to the data from the Russian National Corpus, RuTenTen Corpus on Sketch Engine and RuSkell corpus. We analyze absolute corpus frequencies and collocation patterns of Russian non-reduplicated colour terms, as well as their relative frequencies and collocation patterns in the construction of syntactic reduplication with a hyphen ( belyj-belyj ‘white-white, very white, spotlessly white’). Drawing on this data, we establish that absolute frequencies of non-reduplicated colour terms in Russian reflect both Anna Wierzbicka’s “universals of visual semantics”, as well as certain language and culture-specific tendencies, as evidenced by the prominence of goluboj ‘light blue’ and ryzhij ‘carroty-red’ in Russian. We also argue that the Russian reduplication construction with a hyphen ( belyj-belyj ‘white-white) is semantically and prosodically different from the construction of repetition with a comma ( belyj , belyj ‘white, white’). The former has the meaning of high degree, and thus attracts only gradable colour terms, such as belyj ‘white’, chernyj ‘black’, sinij ‘medium to dark blue’, and other basic colour terms. There are additional factors that influence colour term reduplication. Collocation patterns suggest that colour terms that co-occur with the names of culturally and cognitively salient objects, such as denotations of human appearance (face, hands, skin, eyes, hair) or landscape features (sea, sky, fire, grass) are more likely to be reduplicated. Moreover, aesthetic or emotional evaluation of such objects (‘blue-blue eyes’, ‘green-green grass’) is also a factor that is conducive to their occurrence in the construction of reduplication. Our findings establish the importance of corpus methods in the study of colour terms and reduplication, demonstrate that the use and interpretation of lexical and syntactic items hinges both on semantic and pragmatic factors, and add to the understanding of semantics and pragmatics of Russian colour terms and reduplication construction.

Papapana Re~redu~reduplicates: Multiple Reduplication in an Endangered Northwest Solomonic Language

Although Austronesian languages display a wide range of formal reduplicative patterns, multiple reduplication is reported only for Thao and Mokilese, and is practically unattested in Western Oceanic languages, including those of the Northwest Solomonic (NWS) subgroup. This paper investigates the functions and typologically rare patterns of multiple reduplication in Papapana, a previously undescribed and undocumented, highly endangered language (NWS, Western Oceanic) of Papua New Guinea. Both derivational and inflectional reduplication in Papapana involve leftward, monosyllabic or disyllabic copying. Inflectional reduplication always occurs in combination with another morpheme: (i) negative markers in prohibitives, (ii) the reciprocal marker vei in reciprocal constructions, or (iii) postverbal subject-indexing enclitics to express imperfective aspect. Although monosyllabic and disyllabic copying are typically Oceanic, some verbs in Papapana also display the cross-linguistically rare phenomenon of multiple reduplication to make a distinction between subtypes of imperfective aspect. Papapana also has unusual reduplication constructions because the preverbal comitative applicative marker me and the preverbal reciprocal marker vei can be reduplicated instead of the verb, and despite allowing multiple reduplication in imperfective aspect constructions, it is not permitted in constructions expressing both imperfective and reciprocal meanings. These features of Papapana reduplicative constructions call into question the status of the reduplicant as an affix or clitic, and the nature of multiple reduplication as a unitary or serial process, and these issues are debated in light of a typological comparison with related and unrelated languages.

When some dots turn a different color…

This paper examines some of the problems which arise in connection with the question of whether or not reduplication is a language universal. The point of departure of the study is Moravcsik’s (1978) seminal paper on reduplicative constructions in cross-linguistic perspective. In the main body of the paper, the picture of the geo-linguistic distribution of reduplication that is painted in the World Atlas of Language Structures (Haspelmath et al. 2005) is critically evaluated. The results of the evaluation serve as background for the discussion of the current stalemate of opinions in the ongoing discussion of the supposed universality of reduplication. To resolve the impasse, a prototype-based approach is sketched which may allow us to recommence the collection of empirical data on an unprejudiced basis.

On Tone and Morphophonology of the Akan Reduplication Construction

Reduplication in Akan has received some discussion in the literature but all the studies have concentrated on some aspects of segmental processes that operate on the base to generate the output. In this paper, we study the morphological, segmental and tonal processes related to reduplicative construction in Akan. We demonstrate that on the basis of tonal perturbations which bases and reduplicative templates undergo, and the output tone melody of the reduplicated form vis-à-vis the tone melody of the base, we are able to tell the base from the reduplicant in the Akan reduplicative structure. We argue in the central portions of this paper that the reduplicant in Akan could be either prefixed or suffixed to the base and, in the course of further reduplication construction, it could be sited within the two constituent tokens of the original reduplicative output which serves as an unmarked base for further reduplication. This piece of information counterexemplifies the assertion in the existing literature that in the Akan reduplication construction, the reduplicant is invariably prefixed to the base. In this paper, we study reduplication of verbs, adjectives, nouns, and lexical reduplication and demonstrate that words belonging to the same class behave tonally the same.

A study on the reduplication construction of conjunctive adverbs in Korean spoken language

A study on the reduplication construction of conjunctive adverbs in Korean spoken language

On Tone and Morphophonology of the Akan Reduplication Construction

Reduplication in Akan has received some discussion in the literature but all the studies have concentrated on some aspects of segmental processes that operate on the base to generate the output. In this paper, we study the morphological, segmental and tonal processes related to reduplicative construction in Akan. We demonstrate that on the basis of tonal perturbations which bases and reduplicative templates undergo, the output tone melody of the reduplicated form vis-a-vis the tone melody of base, we are able to tell the base from reduplicant in the Akan reduplicative structure. We argue in the central portions of this paper that the reduplicant in Akan could be either prefixed or suffixed to the base and, in course of further reduplication construction, it could be sited within the two constituent tokens of the original reduplicative output which serves as an unmarked base for further reduplication. This piece of information counterexemplifies the assertion in the existing literature that in the Akan reduplication construction, the reduplicant is invariably prefixed to the base. In this paper, we study reduplication of verbs, adjectives, nouns, and lexical reduplication demonstrate that words belonging to the same class behave tonally same.

Consonant confusability and its relation to phonological similarity

Gradient similarity avoidance patterns in Bengali echo reduplication suggest that the most similar consonants to /t/ are, in order, /t, th, d, t, s, th, k, .../. Converted to confusability, this ranking predicts that aspiration is most confusable, followed by voicing, minor place, continuancy, major place, and sonority. To confirm this, 24 native speakers identified syllables masked with babble, noise, or nothing (“clear”). Results indicate that confusability reflects similarity as predicted by avoidance patterns. In clear speech, most errors involved voicing and aspiration. Other errors reflected dialect-specific alternations. Noise introduced the percept of a loud burst: fricatives were often heard as affricates, non-alveolar coronals as alveolars, and non-coronals as coronals. Babble largely resembled noise. This pattern suggests that voicing is the most confusable feature, followed by aspiration, minor place and continuancy, major place, and lastly sonority. This ranking seems Bengali-specific, as studies of English find place to be significantly more confusable than manner and voicing. These results suggest that at least for Bengali, phonological alternations and perceptual confusability are argued to be better representations of how speakers judge similarity, rather than patterns in the lexicon or metrics such as shared natural classes metric of Frisch et al. (2004).

Consonant confusability and its relation to phonological dissimilarity

Consonant similarity can be measured indirectly through a language’s phoneme inventory, lexicon (e.g. cooccurrence restrictions), or phonology (e.g., processes that take similarity or dissimilarity into account). It can also be measured more directly as confusability in a perception task. Thus far, consonant similarity in Bengali has only been measured indirectly, through the inventory, lexicon, and phonology. Previous studies [Khan (2006)] claim that Bengali speakers judge the similarity of consonants in echo reduplication, where the initial consonant of the base is systematically replaced with a phonologically dissimilar consonant in the reduplicant, e.g., kashi “cough” > kashi-tashi “cough, etc.” but thonga “bag” > *thonga-tonga > thonga-fonga “bags, etc.”). This measurement of similarity assumes a set of features assigned language-specific weights; for example, [voice] is weighted more heavily that [spread glottis], to explain why speakers treat the pair [t, th] as more similar than the pair [t, d]. But does the measurement of similarity inherent in the echo reduplicative construction correspond directly to the relative perceptibility of different consonant contrasts? The current study examines data collected in a perception experiment, comparing the relative confusability of Bengali consonants produced in noise with the claims of phonological notions of similarity associated with echo reduplication.

Confusability of Bengali consonants and its relation to phonological dissimilarity

Language-specific consonant similarity can be measured indirectly by looking at the phoneme inventory, the lexicon (e.g. cooccurrence restrictions), or the phonology (e.g. processes that take the notion of similarity of dissimilarity into account). A more direct approach involves the use of the confusion matrix. For Bengali, thus far, consonant similarity has only been measured indirectly, through the lexicon and phonology. Previous studies (Khan 2006, 2012) claim that Bengali speakers judge the similarity of consonants in echo reduplication (similar to English doctor-schmoctor), where the initial consonant of the base is systematically replaced with a phonologically dissimilar consonant in the reduplicant. This measurement of similarity assumes a set of features assigned language-specific weights; for example, [voice] is weighted more heavily that [spread glottis], to explain why speakers treat the pair [t, th] as more similar than the pair [t, d]. But does the measurement of similarity inherent in the echo reduplicative construction correspond to the relative perceptibility of different consonant contrasts? The current study compares the relative confusability of Bengali consonants produced in noise with the claims of phonological notions of similarity associated with echo reduplication.

Unifying Yoruba reduplication constructions and their semantic relatives

Employing the morphosemantic identity approach of Inkelas and Zoll (2005) and Inkelas (2008), this paper presents data from Yoruba showing that morphological reduplication is compounding, and that this compound structure is primarily governed by semantics, which may require similarity, near-similarity or dissimilarity of compound members. On this view, several cases of reduplication patterns that have been treated as separate and unrelated in Yoruba can be seen as a unitary phenomenon. The analysis of these patterns is shown to naturally extend to the analysis of a special class of reduplicated homonym-synonyms, an extremely common pattern seen in poetic word play. In spite of the general success of the morphological approach, some patterns still require a prosodic rather than a morphological analysis. These patterns counter-exemplify the theory's strong claim that partial and total reduplication are morphologically constrained. They show that morphologically induced reduplication must be distinguished from prosodically induced reduplication (Pulleyblank 2009). By keeping these two entities distinct, reduplication can target either or both simultaneously. Finally, specifying the context of reduplication requires direct reference to phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, and thus demonstrates the multidimensionality of reduplication.

The relation between prototypical and marginal morphology : the case of reduplicative constructions

The article investigates a paradigm case of a borderline phenomenon in linguistic analysis: constructions in which linguistic material is meaningfully iterated (or repeated) and their relation to prototypical and marginal areas of morphology. The fuzzy state of affairs prevailing in this research area is described and a survey of relevant and irrelevant iteration phenomena is undertaken. The discussion finally narrowing in on morphological reduplication, the data dealt with (mostly) come from the typologically oriented Graz Database on Reduplication (gdr). In light of certain data encountered there (i.e. reduplicative imperatives and a pragmatically emphatic vowel copying construction), the morphological process of reduplication is further differentiated, the general term reduplicative construction (Moravcsik 1978) thereby being endowed with a special meaning subsuming both prototypical and marginal instances of the process under scrutiny, couching the investigation into a morphological framework along lines similar to those proposed by Zwicky/Pullum (1987) and Dressler (2000). The study concludes with a tentative general picture of repetition phenomena in language in which grammaticalization theory can comprehensively account for such constructions that linguistically range from discourse to morphology. Finally, the potential benefit of the present approach for any typological undertaking in the realm of the reduplication process is highlighted.

Base-dependence in reduplication

Inkelas and Zoll (Reduplication: Doubling in morphology, 2005) designed Morphological Doubling Theory (MDT) to offer an alternative theory of reduplication that does not involve phonological copying. Contra theories of reduplication which assume that the morphophonological form of a reduplicative morpheme (a “reduplicant”) relies on the morphophonological form of some stem (its “base”), MDT disallows such “base-dependence”. Inkelas and Zoll account for many reduplication patterns without base-dependence by positing that reduplication constructions involve semantic identity, rather than phonological identity, between two stems in a compounding construction. However, we argue that certain patterns of reduplication require base-dependence. These include cases where reduplication targets the output prosodic structure of the stem, as in the “foot copy”’ reduplicants of Yidin y and “syllable copy” reduplicants of Hiaki (Yaqui). To account for these cases MDT must posit syllabic structure in the input, contra the Richness of the Base. Further, MDT cannot account for emergence of the unmarked (TETU) effects in reduplication. In Tawala, vowel-lengthening occurs in lieu of reduplication only in a predictable phonological environment: when a verb stem already contains two identical adjacent syllables at the left edge of the word. We argue that while such a pattern is a problem for MDT’s proscription against base-dependence, it can be accounted for as a simple case of TETU within Correspondence Theory, given a ranking of Faith-IO >> *Repeat σ >> Faith-BR. Thus, some of the major premises of MDT, which does not privilege a distinction between “reduplicant” and “base”, are challenged by such data.

Reduplication and repetition of person markers in Guaporé isolates

The person marking system of the language isolate Kwaza, spoken in the Brazilian Amazon, has several unusual properties. Its bound inflectional person suffixes can be reduplicated in order to express temporal and aspectual notions in a rather un-iconic way. The reduplicated segments are not defined by phonotactic boundaries, such as the syllable, but they are based on morphological units, disregarding their phonotactic structure. The origin and nature of this rare type of reduplication are not very clear. Morphologically based reduplication is not attested in the neighbouring languages with which Kwaza forms a linguistic area. However, Kwaza person markers are also involved in an unusual type of recursive construction that is encountered in the neighbouring languages, too. Recursive application of person markers occurs in Kwaza to express quoted speech in a transparent manner and has also given rise to less transparent expressions such as the desiderative. Similar constructions in the Aikana and Wari’ languages suggest that this quotative construction is an areal feature of at least the Brazilian part of the Guapore region. The quotative construction may help to understand the poorly understood phenomenon of seemingly redundant person marking in Kanoe, another language isolate of the region. It remains a question whether it also plays a role in the origin of the unique morphologically determined reduplication constructions of Kwaza.