• poor inflection (no nominal case, no gender, no subject-verb agreement) • flexible word classes (a lot of lexical items belong to both verbal and nominal category; adjectives can function as adverbs without formal changes, etc.)
Reduplication Form-Function
• pluralization • diminution • intensification • inchoative aspect • word class derivation • lexical enrichment
Relationship Form-Function
one form - various functions
Reduplication System
• formally, Afrikaans has only full reduplication • simplexes: only stems or words (also inflected words); affixes, segments or prosodic constituents cannot be reduplicated
Diachrony
RED cannot have its origin in Dutch;
possible explanations: "creolization" (Creole Portugese, Malay dialects) or "spontaneous origin"
Productivity
• fully productive in all word classes and several lexicalizations • reduplicated word forms can again constitute the basis for other word formation; e.g. knor~knor "growl repeatedly" --> knor~knor-dery "the (ongoing) growling"; tien~tien "by tens" --> tien~tien patroon "the ten-at-a-time-pattern"
Repetitive Operations
• repetitions are pronounced with a pause between the constituents • constituents larger than words can only be repeated, not reduplicated, e.g. Ons beleef moeilike tye moeilyke tye. "We experience very difficult times." • doubling of negation
Stylistic Information
RED is used in all styles and registers;
optional reduplication types are used for narrative effects
Comments
• the numerous phrases for illustration are cited from Botha (1984) and Donaldson (1993) • the most detailed work on reduplication in Afrikaans: Kempen (1969; cf. the bibliography on the project website)
Terminology