Reduplicatsiya

Reduplicatsiya, or reduplication, is a linguistic process in which a word or part of a word is repeated. The repetition can create a new word, reinforce meaning, or mark grammatical information such as plurality, aspect, frequency, repetition, or emphasis. Reduplications are common across language families and can be productive in grammar or lexicalized as fixed expressions.

There are two broad types. Full reduplication repeats the entire word or stem, as in English expressions like bye-bye or goody-goody. Partial reduplication repeats only a segment or syllable and is often used to form diminutives, intensification, or iterative readings; examples in English include teeny-tiny or itsy-bitsy. In some languages, reduplication interacts with morphology to indicate plurality or habitual aspects. For instance, in Indonesian and Malay, reduplication of a noun can form a plural noun (rumah-rumah meaning “houses”); in Tagalog, reduplication of a word can produce a habitual or repetitive sense (araw-araw meaning “every day”).

Distribution and functions vary by language, but reduplication is widely attested, especially in Austronesian languages, where it plays a productive role in forming plurals, repeated actions, or frequentive meanings. It also appears in many other languages, including English, where it tends to be lexicalized for expressive or emphatic effect rather than serving as productive morphology.

Phonology and orthography often interact with reduplication. Repeated segments may undergo phonological adjustment, and orthographic conventions vary from hyphenated compounds to single words. As a topic in typology and historical linguistics, reduplication illustrates how repetition can systematically alter meaning and grammatical function across languages.