reduplicated

Reduplicated, in linguistic usage, refers to forms that have been created by reduplication—the repetition of all or part of a word or morpheme. The term is commonly used to describe a state of being that results from this process, and it is applied across many language families to signal a range of grammatical and semantic values. Reduplicated forms can be full copies of a base or partial copies that repeat only a segment.

There are two broad types: full reduplication, where the entire word is repeated (for example, buku-buku in Indonesian meaning “books,” or orang-orang meaning “people”); and partial reduplication, where only a syllable or portion of the base is repeated, often producing iterative, distributive, or specialized meanings (as in jalan-jalan in Indonesian, conveying a sense of going for a walk or roaming). In many languages, the repeated segment may undergo phonological adjustments, such as vowel alternations or consonant changes, during articulation.

Functionally, reduplication can mark plurality, repetition, intensity, frequency, aspect, or focus, among other meanings. It is notably productive in several Austronesian languages (including Indonesian, Malay, and Filipino languages) and appears in many other language groups with varying grammatical roles. In some systems, reduplication is a fixed, lexicalized form that behaves like a new word, while in others it is a productive morphological process that combines with roots to create new meanings or grammatical categories.

Orthography and phonology vary by language. Reduplicated forms may be written with hyphens, as separate words, or as closed compounds, and the second copy may appear identical to the first or exhibit limited phonetic change due to assimilation. See also reduplication.