Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Reduplicate-Schmeduplicate

There is a construct in many languages which linguists call reduplication.  That sounds redundant, but that's really what it's about -- words (or perhaps more properly, idioms) made up of repeating sounds.  There are many reduplicatives in English which we hear and say all the time, probably without giving it much thought. 

First there are words in the strict repetitive form, many of which sound like baby talk (bye-bye, choo-choo, wee-wee, poo-poo) while others aren't quite so juvenile (goody-goody, hush-hush, so-so).

Rhyming reduplicatives change the initial consonant (willy-nilly, fuddy-duddy, lovey-dovey), and the alliterative (sometimes called "ablaut") form changes the vowel sound (dilly-dally, wishy-washy, tick-tock, ding-dong).

And then there is schm-reduplication, derived from Yiddish, which is often derogatory or dismissive (money-schmoney, fancy-schmancy).

For the ultimate in redundant reduplication, however, I think we'd have to go with itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie.


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