Reduplication in Russian

Reduplication in Russian is used to intensify meaning in different ways.

Reduplication is also observable in borrowed words, such as "пинг-понг" ([pʲɪnkˈponk]; ping-pong) and "зигзаг" ([zʲɪɡˈzak]; zig-zag), but since the words were borrowed as is from other languages, they are not examples of reduplication as it works in the grammar of Russian.

Syllabic/root/stem reduplication[]

There is virtually no productive syllabic or root/stem reduplication in the modern Russian language.^[1]

An ancient lexical stratum of the Russian language provides examples such as "мама" ([ˈmamə]; mommy), "папа" ([ˈpapə]; daddy), "баба" ([ˈbabə]; granny)—a phenomenon common to many languages. It is argued that these words originated in the reduplicated babbling of infants.

Word reduplication[]

Word reduplications are mostly the feature of the colloquial language and in most cases do not constitute separate dictionary entries.^[1] Word reduplication may occur in the following forms:

• a hyphenated word, both of standard vocabulary or standard ad hoc word formation
  • exact reduplication:
    • "чуть-чуть" ([tɕʉtʲ ˈtɕʉtʲ]; "very few", lit. "few-few")—a vocabulary word
    • "белый-белый (снег)" ([ˈbʲɛlɨj ˈbʲɛlɨj (sʲnʲɛk)]; "very white (snow)", lit. "white-white (snow)")—ad hoc formation, for adjectives
  • inflected reduplication:
    • "давным-давно" ([dɐˈvnɨm dɐˈvno]; "very long time ago", lit. "pastly-past")
    • "белым-бело" ([bʲɪˈlɨm bʲɪˈlo]; "very white", lit. "whitely-white")
  • Reduplication of adjectives using the enhancement preposition "пре-" (/prʲe/)
    • "большой-пребольшой" (bɐˈlʲʂoj prʲɪbɐˈlʲʂoj]; "very big", lit. "big-very-big"
    • "белый-пребелый" ([ˈbʲɛlɨj prʲɪˈbʲɛlɨj]; "very white", lit. "white-very-white")
• A repetition of a word in dialogues as a device used either to request or to promise a higher degree of cooperation:^[2]
  • "Давай, давай!" or "Давай-давай", ([dɐˈvaj dɐˈvaj])—a general-purpose urge to do something, literally "give it, give it!", meaning "Come on!" or "Let's do it!"
  • "Беги, беги!" ([bʲɪˈɡʲi bʲɪˈɡʲi]; "Run, run!")—a specific urge to run: to run fast or to run right away.
  • "Конечно, конечно!" ([kɐˈnʲeʂnə kɐˈnʲeʂnə])—an enhanced agreement: "Of course, of course!"
  • "Да, да" ([da da] "Yes, yes")—an utterance used in dialogs to indicate either constant attention ("yes, yes, I am listening") or agreement ("yes, yes, of course")
• Shm-reduplication and m-reduplication, to express irony, borrowed from Yiddish and Central Asian cultures respectively, sometimes used as a mockery of the corresponding languages or peoples; see Russian jokes about Georgians for examples of this phenomenon
• As an expression of a frequentative or of a prolonged action
  • "Тянут-потянут, вытянуть не могут" ([ˈtʲanut pɐˈtʲanut ˈvɨtʲɪnutʲ nʲɪ ˈmoɡut]; "They are pulling and pulling, but cannot pull it [the turnip] out")—a phrase from the classical fairy tale Repka ("Репка", "The Turnip")
  • "Смотрит, смотрит" ([ˈsmotrʲɪt ˈsmotrʲɪt]; "[he] is looking and looking")
  • "Шёл, шёл" ([ʂol ʂol]; "[he] went and went")
• Onomatopoeic reduplication
  • "Кап-кап-кап" ([kap kap kap]; the sound of the droplets of water)
  • "Тик-так" ([tik tak]) or "тик-тик-тик" ([tik tik tik]); the sound of a clock ticking
  • "Гав-гав" ([ɡav ɡaf]); bowwow, barking of a dog
• Frequentative, often combined with ideophonic/onomatopoeic derivation
  • "Чик-чик" ([tɕik tɕik]), from "чикнуть", "to slash with a knife"
  • "Прыг-прыг" ([prɨk prɨk]), from "прыгать" ("to jump", "to hop"). A similar derivation in English would be "When the red red robin/Comes bob bob bobbing along").

Affixal reduplication[]

A peculiarity of Russian language is synonymic affixal reduplication, whereby a root may acquire two productive suffixes or prefixes, different, but of the same semantics, with the corresponding intensification of the meaning:^[1]

• Affectional diminutives:
  • "Подруга" ([pɐˈdruɡə])→"подружка" ([pɐˈdruʂkə])→"подруженька" ([pɐˈdruʐɨnʲkə] "girlfriend"). Here, "г"→"ж" is an example of consonant mutation, and "-к-" and "-ень-" are two diminutive-generating suffixes. This kind of word formation is especially productive for given names: "Екатерина" ([jɪkətʲɪˈrʲinə], "Catherine")→"Катя" ([ˈkatʲə], hypocoristic)→"Катюша" ([kɐˈtʲuʂə] "Katyusha")→"Катюшенька" ([kɐˈtʲuʂɨnʲkə])→"Катюшенечка" ([kɐˈtʲuʂɨnʲɪtɕkə], sounds intentionally ridiculous)
• Another example:
  • "Забыть" ([zɐˈbɨtʲ], "to forget")→"призабыть" ([prʲɪzɐˈbɨtʲ], "to forget for a while")→"попризабыть" ([pəprʲɪzɐˈbɨtʲ])

See also[]

• Amredita
• Babbling

References[]