A Preliminary Study of the Semantics of Reduplication

TitleA Preliminary Study of the Semantics of Reduplication
Publication TypeTechnical Report
Year of Publication1994
AuthorsRegier, T.
Other Numbers889
Abstract

There is a universal component to the semantics of reduplication, which can be expressed as a radial category of concepts. I present this radial category, along with supporting evidence from a range of languages, and motivations for the links between the various senses. The structure of the radial graph gives rise to a number of predicted implicational universals. I also show that the radial category for reduplication shares an entire subsystem of concepts with the radial category for the Russian verbal prefix raz-. This sharing of subsystems of concepts across separate radial categories suggests that there is a single universal core conceptual network, with individual constructions covering different, possibly overlapping, regions.

URLhttp://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/ftp/global/pub/techreports/1994/tr-94-019.pdf
Bibliographic Notes

ICSI Technical Report TR-94-019

Abbreviated Authors

T. Regier

ICSI Publication Type

Technical Report