Reduplication in Punjabi: A Morpho-Semantic Phenomenon

Abstract

Punjabi, a largely South Asian spoken language, is very rich in reduplication but less researched language in the linguistic circle of Pakistan. It ranges from total/full reduplication to different types of partial reduplication such as alternation of vowel based morpheme, alternation of consonant based morpheme, and rhyme with diminutive suffix and/or echoic expressions. The study discusses five major points: 1) Reduplication with reference to its classifications and semantics. 2) Reduplication of nonsense/empty words in contrast to Keane’s (2005). 3) Variation in the position of reduplicants 4) Challenges Abbi’s (1985) claim that pre/postpositions of any language may not be reduplicated 5) Gives an example, contra Abbi (1985), in which the meaning of reduplicated and non-reduplicated forms overlap each other. The study displays that partial reduplication is responsible for forming new compound words and performs a variety of different semantic functions.

Keywords: Reduplication, Punjabi, agglutinative language, Indo-Aryan languages, Morpho-semantic