Thoughts on Language & Who We Are, part 1
When you told me you needed a drink-drink
and not just a drink like a drink of water
I steered you by the elbow into a corner bar
which turned out to be a real bar-bar
dim and nearly empty with little tables in the back
--Billy Collins, After the Funeral
Welcome, dear reader –
I’ve been thinking about reduplication* in language – the doubling of a word’s sound or entirety to create emphasis.
Okey-dokey! Pitter-patter. Bing-bong!
There’s a playfulness to these reduplicative words. They draw our attention to both the sound and the function of the word. Think of the expression “snail mail” to emphasize the letter that arrived in the mailbox and not the inbox. (Snail mail is both a retronym and a reduplication!)
A subset of reduplicatives (contrastive focus reduplicatives) help us to ensure something is real.
A friend tells you they like someone, and you ask “do you like-like them?” Or someone says, “I’m up!” And you ask, “are you up-up?” Or you say you’re eating healthier because you just ate a salad-salad.
The doubling conveys two types of understanding: the larger category of things and the essence of the thing itself.
Salad-salad is a good example. The reduplication distinguishes the larger category of salads (macaroni, potato, ham, fruit) from the essential quality of salad – green leafy vegetables.
And don’t we sometimes want this distinction as well? To be acknowledged not just for our roles and responsibilities but for our essential selves? Talk to me. Talk to me.
Take a moment to think of your own name doubled. Thomas-Thomas. Susan-Susan. Mark-Mark. To be reminded that past all of the positions we occupy (daughter-friend-teacher-husband-lawyer-neighbor-baker-boss- runner…), there is some central being-ness, some essential valence.
May you be seen today for all that you are. May you take the time to acknowledge – and delight in -- all the doublings in which you exist.
And as always, talk to me (talk to me) about what you discover.
In playful reduplication,
Emily-Emily
* The podcast Grammar Girl, Episode 663, has a quick introduction to reduplication. And there’s an incredible children’s book by Andrew Clements, Double Trouble in Walla Walla, which is just a joy to read!