Reduplication is a morphological process where all or part of a word is repeated, with roots or stems involved. The function and meaning vary between languages, with full and partial duplication used. It is an area where phonology and morphology intersect, with many Austronesian languages using the process extensively. English mostly uses it informally.
Reduplication is a morphological process that involves repeating all or part of a word. These parts of words are referred to as roots or stems. Some languages use the process extensively, some moderately, and some not at all.
Morphological processes modify the root of a word to adapt its meaning for communicative purposes. Roots are the parts of words that cannot be broken down any further, meaning they are the morphologically simplest part of any word. Some words contain only one stem, while others contain one stem and a number of stems. A root can consist of only one stem, but can also contain derivative and inflectional affixes.
The function and meaning of reduplication varies widely between languages. Many well-known examples come from languages where process is used to express the plural form. In these languages, depending on whether they show full or partial duplication, all or part of a noun is repeated.
In full reduplication, the entire word is repeated. In partial duplication, only one segment is duplicated. The duplicate segment can be at the beginning or end of the word.
An example of a partially duplicated word is found in Marshallese. The word kagir means “belt”. Marshallese for “wearing a belt” is kagirgir. This pattern is repeated when it comes to clothing.
The concept is particularly interesting to linguists because it is an area that demonstrates an interface between phonology and morphology, in the sense that these two parts of language intersect to create process. While the process is classified as morphological, phonology is also involved because the phonological segments are what gets duplicated. The phonological parts of the word are used for a morphological process.
Reduplication is a formal grammatical process in many languages. In English, it is rare and mostly informal. Slang words like super-duper and razzle-dazzle express extra meaning using partial reduplication. This is identified as partial because -s from super becomes a -d, and -r from razzle also becomes a -d, which means that the entire segment is not copied.
Many Austronesian languages, spoken in an area extending from Taiwan in the north to Madagascar in the west and Hawaii in the east, have full and partial duplication. Indonesian, the Austronesian language with the most speakers, makes extensive use of the process, especially with plural number marking. An example of this is the word for home, rumah. To refer to houses, rumah-rumah is the correct form.
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