Re: Re : Reduplication (was: Re: Re : Re: Conculturish question)

>>  > for instance, full reduplication is consistently used in japanese,
>>  > indonesian and khmer to show :
>>  > - plural
>>  > - frequency, duration
>>  > - mimicry, identity
>>  > - intensity
Malagasy (an Austronesian language) includes a use for reduplication
which is not on your list, namely deprecation.  When a noun is
reduplicated, the meaning is something like "an ersatz X" or "a
poor excuse for an X":

        trano           "house"
        tranotrano      "a pseudo-house"

        latabatra               "table"
        latabatabatra   "a table which is falling apart"

You can also reduplicate adjectives, verbs, and quantifiers.
Reduplicating quantifiers indicates either intensity or lack thereof,
depending on the quantifier:

        maro            "many"
        maromaro                "quite a large number of"

        vitsy           "some"
        vitsivitsy              "just a very few"

Reduplicating verbs typically adds a durative meaning, and can also
be used to indicate that the action in question is undirected:

        mandeha         "go, walk (to)"
        mandehandeha    "go for a walk, walk around"

        mitsambikina    "jump"
        mitsambikimbikina       "jump around"

As for reduplication of adjectives, I have yet to figure out what this
means.  Some adjectives are routinely reduplicated - colour terms,
for example:

        maintimainty    "black"
        fotsifotsy              "white"
        mangamanga      "blue"

My Malagasy speaker tells me that reduplicating colour terms helps
to 'soften them', that unreduplicated colour terms sound 'too abrupt',
but I'm not sure exactly what that means...

Matt.