Re: THEORY: Reduplication

Quoting Clint Jackson Baker <litrex1@...>:

> I've thought of French as an overlooked example for
> the usage of reduplication, words like "bonbon" and
> "prechi-precha".  "Zizi" is a funny example too, but
> it's a kids' word.  Help me--I know there are other
> good examples eluding me.
Something I just thought of about my own speech:

At least some dialects of English use reduplication as a form
of intensifier, or with the notion of "reality".

  A: So, how was _Star Wars_ last night?
  B: Crowded.
  A: Oh, how crowded was it?
  B: Like, *crowded*-crowded.

For my usage at least, one can tell that that last construction --
"crowded-crowded" -- is prosodically one unit, since it gets one
primary stress (word-initially).  Also, importantly, it cannot be
further intensified by tacking on yet another "crowded":
*crowded-crowded-crowded is illicit.

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier          "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
Dept. of Linguistics  mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..."
University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought /
1010 E. 59th Street   and not complete one road that has no turn"
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