View source for Reduplication in Russian

{{Short description|Used to accentuate and intensify meaning}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = April 2019}}

Linguistic [[reduplication]] is a distinct grammatical feature in [[Russian language|Russian]], where it can be used to derive reduplicated forms from existing stems to intensify their meanings in different ways.

Reduplication is also observable in borrowed words, such as "{{lang|ru|пинг-понг}}" ({{IPA|[pʲɪnkˈponk]}}; [[ping-pong]]) and "{{lang|ru|зигзаг}}" ({{IPA|[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  [[Russian grammar|grammar]] of Russian.

==Syllabic/root/stem reduplication==
There is virtually no productive [[Syllable|syllabic]] or [[root (linguistics)|root]]/[[word stem|stem]] reduplication in the modern Russian language.<ref name=kryuchkova>{{lang|ru|О.&nbsp;Ю.&nbsp;Крючкова, "Специфика внутрисловных удвоений в русском языке"}}, in Proc. Intl. Congress ''Russian Language: Historical Fates and Modern Times'' ({{lang|ru|"Русский язык: исторические судьбы и современность"}}), Moscow, MSU, March 13–16, 2001, section "Word Formation of the Modern Russian Language" {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

An ancient [[lexical stratum]] of the Russian language provides examples such as "{{lang|ru|мама}}" ({{IPA|[ˈmamə]}}; mommy), "{{lang|ru|папа}}" ({{IPA|[ˈpapə]}}; [[Wiktionary:daddy|daddy]]), "{{lang|ru|баба}}" ({{IPA|[ˈbabə]}}; [[grandmother|granny]])&mdash;a phenomenon common to many languages. It is argued that these words originated in the [[Reduplication|reduplicated]] babbling of [[infant]]s.

==Word reduplication==
Word reduplications are mostly the feature of the [[colloquial language]] and in most cases do not constitute separate dictionary entries.<ref name=kryuchkova/>  Word reduplication may occur in the following forms: 
*a [[hyphenated]] [[word]], both of standard vocabulary or standard ''[[ad hoc]]'' [[word formation]]
**exact reduplication:
***"{{lang|ru|чуть-чуть}}" ({{IPA|[tɕʉtʲ ˈtɕʉtʲ]}}; "very few", lit.&nbsp;"few-few")&mdash;a vocabulary word
***"{{lang|ru|белый-белый (снег)}}" ({{IPA|[ˈbʲɛlɨj ˈbʲɛlɨj (sʲnʲɛk)]}}; "very white (snow)", lit.&nbsp;"white-white (snow)")&mdash;''ad hoc'' formation, for adjectives
**inflected reduplication:
***"{{lang|ru|давным-давно}}" ({{IPA|[dɐˈvnɨm dɐˈvno]}}; "very long time ago", lit.&nbsp;"pastly-past")
***"{{lang|ru|белым-бело}}" ({{IPA|[bʲɪˈlɨm bʲɪˈlo]}}; "very white", lit.&nbsp;"whitely-white")
**Reduplication of adjectives using the enhancement preposition "{{lang|ru|пре-}}" ({{IPA|/prʲe/}})
***"{{lang|ru|большой-пребольшой}}" ({{IPA|bɐˈlʲʂoj prʲɪbɐˈlʲʂoj]}}; "very big", lit.&nbsp;"big-very-big"
***"{{lang|ru|белый-пребелый}}" ({{IPA|[ˈbʲɛlɨj prʲɪˈbʲɛlɨj]}}; "very white", lit.&nbsp;"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:<ref>Israeli, A. (1997). "Syntactic reduplication in Russian: A cooperative principle device in dialogues". [[Journal of Pragmatics]], 27(5), 587-609</ref>
**"{{lang|ru|Давай, давай!}}" or "{{lang|ru|Давай-давай}}", ({{IPA|[dɐˈvaj dɐˈvaj]}})&mdash;a general-purpose urge to do something, literally "give it, give it!", meaning "Come on!" or "Let's do it!"
**"{{lang|ru|Беги, беги!}}" ({{IPA|[bʲɪˈɡʲi bʲɪˈɡʲi]}}; "Run, run!")&mdash;a specific urge to run: to run fast or to run right away.
**"{{lang|ru|Конечно, конечно!}}" ({{IPA|[kɐˈnʲeʂnə kɐˈnʲeʂnə]}})&mdash;an enhanced agreement: "Of course, of course!"
**"{{lang|ru|Да, да}}" ({{IPA|[da da]}} "Yes, yes")&mdash;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 Asia]]n cultures respectively, sometimes used as a mockery of the corresponding languages or peoples; see [[Russian jokes#Georgians|Russian jokes about Georgians]] for examples of this phenomenon
*As an expression of a [[frequentative]] or of a [[Continuous and progressive aspects|prolonged action]]
**"{{lang|ru|Тянут-потянут, вытянуть не могут}}" ({{IPA|[ˈtʲanut pɐˈtʲanut ˈvɨtʲɪnutʲ nʲɪ ˈmoɡut]}}; "They are pulling and pulling, but cannot pull it [the turnip] out")&mdash;a phrase from the classical [[fairy tale]] ''Repka'' ("{{lang|ru|Репка}}", "The [[Turnip]]")
**"{{lang|ru|Смотрит, смотрит}}" ({{IPA|[ˈsmotrʲɪt ˈsmotrʲɪt]}}; "[he] is looking and looking")
**"{{lang|ru|Шёл, шёл}}" ({{IPA|[ʂol ʂol]}}; "[he] went and went")
*[[Onomatopoeic]] reduplication
**"{{lang|ru|Кап-кап-кап}}" ({{IPA|[kap kap kap]}}; the sound of the droplets of water)
**"{{lang|ru|Тик-так}}" ({{IPA|[tik tak]}}) or "{{lang|ru|тик-тик-тик}}" ({{IPA|[tik tik tik]}}); the sound of a clock ticking
**"{{lang|ru|Гав-гав}}" ({{IPA|[ɡav ɡaf]}}); bowwow, barking of a dog
*[[Frequentative]], often combined with [[ideophone|ideophonic]]/onomatopoeic derivation
**"{{lang|ru|Чик-чик}}" ({{IPA|[tɕik tɕik]}}), from "{{lang|ru|чикнуть}}", "to slash with a knife"
**"{{lang|ru|Прыг-прыг}}" ({{IPA|[prɨk prɨk]}}), from "{{lang|ru|прыгать}}" ("to [[Jumping|jump]]", "to hop").  A similar derivation in English would be "[[When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)|When the red red robin/Comes bob bob bobbing along]]").

==Affixal reduplication==
A peculiarity of Russian language is synonymic [[affix]]al reduplication, whereby a root may acquire two productive suffixes or prefixes, different, but of the same [[semantics]], with the corresponding intensification of the meaning:<ref name=kryuchkova/> 
*Affectional [[diminutive]]s:
**"{{lang|ru|Подру<u>г</u>а}}" ({{IPA|[pɐˈdruɡə]}})→"{{lang|ru|подруж<u>к</u>а}}" ({{IPA|[pɐˈdruʂkə]}})→"{{lang|ru|подруж<u>ень</u><u>к</u>а}}" ({{IPA|[pɐˈdruʐɨnʲkə]}} "[[girlfriend]]").  Here, "{{lang|ru|г}}"→"{{lang|ru|ж}}" is an example of [[consonant mutation]], and "{{lang|ru|-к-}}" and "{{lang|ru|-ень-}}" are two diminutive-generating [[suffix]]es. This kind of word formation is especially productive for [[given name]]s: "{{lang|ru|Екатерина}}" ({{IPA|[jɪkətʲɪˈrʲinə]}}, "[[Catherine (disambiguation)|Catherine]]")→"{{lang|ru|Катя}}" ({{IPA|[ˈkatʲə]}}, [[hypocoristic]])→"{{lang|ru|Катюша}}" ({{IPA|[kɐˈtʲuʂə]}} "[[Katyusha (disambiguation)|Katyusha]]")→"{{lang|ru|Катюшенька}}" ({{IPA|[kɐˈtʲuʂɨnʲkə]}})→"{{lang|ru|Катюшенечка}}" ({{IPA|[kɐˈtʲuʂɨnʲɪtɕkə]}}, sounds intentionally ridiculous)
*Another example:
**"{{lang|ru|Забыть}}" ({{IPA|[zɐˈbɨtʲ]}}, "to forget")→"{{lang|ru|<u>при</u>забыть}}" ({{IPA|[prʲɪzɐˈbɨtʲ]}}, "to forget for a while")→"{{lang|ru|<u>по</u><u>при</u>забыть}}" ({{IPA|[pəprʲɪzɐˈbɨtʲ]}})<!--I cannot express this flavor using the English language now, sorry-->

==See also==
*[[Amredita]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Russian language}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reduplication In The Russian Language}}
[[Category:Russian language]]
[[Category:Reduplication]]