What They Did
The researchers studied the linguistic role of word and
sound reduplication in Sindhi, a major language of Pakistan, particularly the province
of Sindh. They collected 31 instances of reduplication from social settings and
analyzed their contextual meaning with the assistance of native speakers. Reduplication
of full words often carries emotional content. Saying گهم گهم (‘ghum ghum’) is
a reference to wandering around and can be used affectionately in the sense of
a parent telling a child to go have fun. The phrase کل کل (‘khil khil’) can
refer to someone laughing happily, but in response to mocking, the meaning is
more akin to “You’re laughing now, but my time will come.”
Sound reduplications may be rhymes, near rhymes, or
alliterations. They frequently carry information about the situational context.
Saying وٺ سٺ (‘wath sath’) refers to being in a hurry, particularly for
handling complex plans such as wedding preparations. The phrase پويتياگتي
(‘agte poete’) literally means “back and forth” and socially refers to a
situation in which another person won’t make a commitment. When people say سهانگو
مهانگ (‘mahango sahango’), which translates as “costly but necessary,” it’s generally
a comment on rising costs of necessary items and the fact that they have to be
purchased anyway.
Sinhi speakers also use reduplication of words that have no
literal meaning. The phrase هور هور (‘horr horr’) is used to mock someone in an
exaggerated way, while تر تر (‘tur tur’) is an angry warning that the opponent
in a confrontation had better leave.
Further Exploration
I use reduplication in my own communication. My spouse and I
often want to text “k” as a shorthand for “Ok” but somehow “k” on its own feels
abrupt or dismissive, so we’ve taken to using “kk.” This defeats the purpose of
shortening “Ok,” but it’s also developed a different feeling: “kk” carries a
sense of being on the same wavelength, of being in an activity together, even
if we’re carrying out different tasks. “Ok,” on the other hand, has a sense of
accepting information or instruction from the other person.
Similarly, if I text “neat neat” in response to a story or
observation, that means I’m engaged and open to hearing more, whereas “neat” without
the repetition has more of a sense of “I’m happy for you and want to be
supportive but am not necessarily interested for myself.” Of course, these examples
are highly idiosyncratic, but many other examples of reduplication in English will
likely be familiar (see https://daily.jstor.org/the-nitty-gritty-on-reduplication-so-good-you-have-to-say-it-twice/).
In the sentence “I’ll
make the tuna salad and you make the salad-salad,” the repetition indicates
that the second salad is closer to the central concept of a salad. Sound reduplications
in English are often informal and nonliteral. The phrase “loosey-goosey,” for
example, seems to have a sense of being unstructured almost to the point of falling
apart, which may indicate negligence or flexibility, depending on the situation,
but has nothing to do with geese. Lots of other languages also use
reduplication, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day!
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