Reduplicatives †Double Delight

Reduplicatives – Double Delight Reduplicatives Double Delight Reduplicatives Double Delight By Sharon Reduplicatives never travel alone. In fact, they always come in pairs and sometimes sound rather silly. These are the words formed through reduplication, when you repeat a word to form a new one, or slightly change the vowel or consonant. These are inventive and musical words and there are hundreds of them in English. Also called echo words, there are three basic types of reduplicatives. Some repeat the word exactly, some of them use rhyme for formation while the others use vowel or consonant shift to come up with the other half of the pair. Most of them are two syllable words (four, if you count both halves of the pair), though there are some with three syllables. This type of word formation seems to come naturally to us. Shakespeare was responsible for hurly-burly , which is still in use, as well as other reduplicatives that are rarely seen outside the plays. Recent additions to the genre include the chick-flick, a film geared towards women. Here are some common reduplicatives. Repeating the same word: ack-ackaye-ayebang-bangberiberibonbonboo-boobye-byecha-chachoo-choochop chopfroufrougoody goodyha-hahush hushmuumuunight-nightno-nopapapawpaw Rhyming: airy-fairyargy-bargyartsy-fartsyboo hooboogie-woogiebow-wow easy-peasyfuddy-duddyhanky-pankyheebie-jeebieshelter-skelter higgledy-piggledyhocus-pocushodge-podgehoity-toity itsy-bitsyjeepers creepersmumbo-jumbonamby-pamby nitty grittyokey-dokeysuper-duperwilly-nilly Vowel changes: chit-chatclip clopcriss-crossdilly-dallyding-dongflim-flamflip-flophip-hopknick-knackmish-mashping pongpitter-patterriff-raffriprapsee-sawshilly-shallytick tocktittle-tattle zigzag Feel free to add your own in the comments. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business Emails34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better WriterList of Prefixes and Suffixes and their Meanings