réduplication

Reduplication is a morphological process in linguistics where a morpheme is repeated, either in its entirety or partially. This repetition can serve various grammatical or semantic functions. In some languages, reduplication is used to indicate plurality. For example, in Tagalog, the word "tao" meaning "person" becomes "mga tao" where "mga" is a plural marker, but in other contexts, full reduplication can indicate plurality, like "bahay" (house) potentially becoming "bahay-bahay" (houses).

Another common function of reduplication is to intensify meaning or indicate that an action is performed repeatedly or for a long duration. For instance, in some Austronesian languages, repeating a verb can signify continuous action. In other languages, reduplication can be used to form adjectives or adverbs from nouns or verbs. It can also play a role in creating new lexical items with distinct meanings from the original word.

Reduplication can be full, where the entire morpheme is repeated, or partial, where only a part of the morpheme is repeated. Partial reduplication might involve repeating only the initial consonant and vowel, or just the final syllable. The specific form and function of reduplication vary significantly across the world's languages, making it a fascinating area of linguistic study. It is a widespread phenomenon found in languages from diverse families, including Austronesian, African, and indigenous American languages.