English Words

4.4.4
Wishy-washy words
Sapir (1921:76) observed that nothing is more natural than the prevalence of REDUPLICATION, the
repetition of the base of a word in part or in its entirety. He observed that though rare, reduplication is found
in English. It is attested in words such as:
[4.29]
pooh-pooh
goody-goody
wishy-washy
sing-song
roly-poly
harum-scarum
Later on, Thun (1963) showed that reduplication is less marginal than is commonly assumed. He listed
and examined about 2,000 reduplicative words in standard English and in various dialects.
The most significant property of reduplicatives (words formed by reduplication) is that word-formation is
driven by phonological factors. There are two main types of reduplicatives: RHYME MOTIVATED
COMPOUNDS and ABLAUT MOTIVATED COMPOUNDS (cf. Bauer 1983). Rhyme means what it
means in poetry: the vowels and any consonant(s) that appear after it in the last syllable are identical while
ablaut means a change in the root vowel. (Usually ablaut signals a change in grammatical function, e.g. the
o
~ e alternation in long 
(Adj.)
vs. length 
(Noun)
marks a difference in word-class.) These labels for the two
categories of reduplicative compounds highlight the fact that the repetition of the bases in compounds of
this kind involves copying the rhyme in so-called rhyme motivated compounds, and copying the consonants
and altering the vowel in ablaut motivated compounds.
Some rhyming compounds are formed by joining bases which are both pre-existing words as in Black-
Jack
and brain-drain. Probably more common, however, are rhyming compounds where one or both bases
is not an independent word, as in [4.30]:
[4.30]
Rhyme motivated
compounds
nitwit
helter-skelter
namby-pamby
titbit
hobnob
higgledy-piggledy
nitty-gritty
teeny-weeny
Finally, there are ablaut motivated compounds in which one or both bases may not be an independent
word:
[4.31]
Ablaut motivated
compounds
tip-top
riff-raff
ding-dong
shilly-shally
tick-tock
tittle-tattle
wibble-wobble
dingle-dangle
ping-pong
dilly-dally
flip-flop
54 BUILDING WORDS

---