Retention and reduction in reduplicants of Semai

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Not Available Online
Issue Date: 
2011
Is Part Of Series: 
Mon-Khmer Studies Journal Special Issue No. 3
Extent: 
pp. 178-197
Abstract: 
One dialect of Semai has two homophonous verb forms ɟɨk, one of which means “to stand” and the other “to marry”. When these two verbs are reduplicated, however, the former surfaces as ɟiɲɟɨk and the latter as ɟəkɟɨk, the difference being explainable historically by a segment retained in the reduplicant which has been lost in the base. This paper explores the wide variety of reduplication, including this one, found across various Semai dialects, then proposes a series of iambic reductions that serve to explain these phenomena, replacing in the process the notion of ‘incopyfixation.’ Examples of this same general pattern of reduplication and reduction are also provided from several other Aslian languages.
Publication Status: 
Published
Country: 
Malaysia
Subject Languages: 
Content Language: 
Field: 
Work Type: 
Nature of Work: 
Entry Number: 
52500