a fun thing to notice in reo tahiti, a polynesian language spoken in tahiti, is how often words like to repeat themselves.
this is called reduplication. according to wikipedia, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word—or part of it, or even the whole word—is repeated exactly or with a slight change.
reduplication in tahitian is not just for emphasis—repeating a word can change its meaning in subtle ways. it might make something feel more poetic, more continuous, or even softer or cuter. it can also intensify or pluralize a word. the possibilities are endless!
since reduplication is a very common feature in reo tahiti, i could easily find quite a few examples. here's a short, non-exhaustive list of tahitian reduplications:
iti (small, little) → itiiti (very small; little by little)
to’a (coral) → to’ato’a (to smell of coral)
oni (male) → ’oni’oni (macho, to act like a male, to brag)
tio (oyster) → tiotio (small oyster)
rima (hand) → rimarima (finger)
tipi (knife) → tipitipi (to peel the vegetables)
rave (to take) → raverave (to shoplift)
ta’i (to cry) → ta’ita’i (to chirp, shout, cry repeatedly (over and over again, nonstop), cry together at the same time)
’ata (to laugh) → ’ata’ata (to laugh often, laugh with others, laugh together)
haere (to go) → hāhaere (to go—the two of us—together)
rahi (tall, broad) → rahirahi (two or more tall, broad things or people)
horoi (to wash) → horohoroi (to wash repeatedly)
tāpū (to cut) → tāpūpū (to cut several times, to cut into small pieces)
ta’oto (to sleep) → tā’oto’oto (to get some sleep)
fa’ari’i (to accept) → fa’ari’iri’i (to come to accept little by little, to tolerate)
ta’amino (to turn) → ta’aminomino (to go round and round; labyrinthine, as tangled as a labyrinth)
neva (to turn one's head to the side to look) → nevaneva (startled, restless, distracted, constantly moving, unsettled)
the tahitian language also uses what is known as metathesis, a process that involves reversing the order of syllables to change or alter meaning. for example:
niho (tooth) → honi (to bite)
’ōmuhu (to whisper) → ’ōhumu (to slander in a low voice)
maru (shade, shadow) → ruma (darkness) → rumaruma (nebula, nebulous; cloudy, obscured by clouds)
hook idea: reduplication is a highly productive process of word formation. it allows for the creation of new words and thus enriches vocabulary. sometimes it turns a noun into a verb, or a stative verb into an action verb; or changes the meaning altogether. newly created words can convey a wide range of nuances: more or less, smaller or larger, resemblance, greater quantity (plural), smaller quantity, repetition (frequency),... a whole range of nuances that are worth learning!
