Comments on: Reduplicatives And Their Meanings

By: Kacie Landrum

Kacie Landrum — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:15:51 +0000

Japanese has many reduplicatives, which they call ‘kasane-kotoba’ or ‘stacked-up-words.’ Many of them are describe visual or auditory sensations: ‘doki-doki’ for the sound of a racing heartbeat, ‘pika-pika’ for something sparkling, etc. My favorite is ‘nyoro-nyoro’ or the back-and-forth sliding movement of a slithering snake. But there are literally thousands of them.

By: Schizohedron

Schizohedron — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:11:47 +0000

Would the antelope-like and onomatopoetically named dik-dik qualify as another rhyming reduplicative? How about hugger-mugger, which conveys either secrecy/keeping something secret, or confusion?

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By: Mari

Mari — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:53:03 +0000

I always understood willy-nilly to mean haphazard.

Same here. The definition given brings more to mind “will he or nil he” which is completely different.

By: Jennifer S

Jennifer S — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:30:11 +0000

This made a perfect Friday assignment for my 8th grade language arts classes. I gave them the original list then had them define as many as possible during the 45 minutes period.

Thanks!
Jennifer