Reduplication is also observable in borrowed words, such as "пинг-понг" ([pʲɪnkˈponk];
ping-pong) and "зигзаг" ([zʲɪɡˈzak];
zig-zag), but since the words were borrowed as is from other languages, they are not examples of reduplication as it works in the
grammar of Russian.
Syllabic/root/stem reduplication
There is virtually no productive
syllabic or
root/
stem reduplication in the modern Russian language.[1]
An ancient
lexical stratum of the Russian language provides examples such as "мама" ([ˈmamə]; mommy), "папа" ([ˈpapə];
daddy), "баба" ([ˈbabə];
granny)—a phenomenon common to many languages. It is argued that these words originated in the
reduplicated babbling of
infants.
Word reduplication
Word reduplications are mostly the feature of the
colloquial language and in most cases do not constitute separate dictionary entries.[1] Word reduplication may occur in the following forms:
A repetition of a word in dialogues as a device used either to request or to promise a higher degree of cooperation:[2]
"Давай, давай!" or "Давай-давай", ([dɐˈvajdɐˈvaj])—a general-purpose urge to do something, literally "give it, give it!", meaning "Come on!" or "Let's do it!"
"Беги, беги!" ([bʲɪˈɡʲibʲɪˈɡʲi]; "Run, run!")—a specific urge to run: to run fast or to run right away.
"Конечно, конечно!" ([kɐˈnʲeʂnəkɐˈnʲeʂnə])—an enhanced agreement: "Of course, of course!"
"Да, да" ([dada] "Yes, yes")—an utterance used in dialogs to indicate either constant attention ("yes, yes, I am listening") or agreement ("yes, yes, of course")
"Тянут-потянут, вытянуть не могут" ([ˈtʲanutpɐˈtʲanutˈvɨtʲɪnutʲnʲɪˈmoɡut]; "They are pulling and pulling, but cannot pull it [the turnip] out")—a phrase from the classical
fairy taleRepka ("Репка", "The
Turnip")
"Смотрит, смотрит" ([ˈsmotrʲɪtˈsmotrʲɪt]; "[he] is looking and looking")
A peculiarity of Russian language is synonymic
affixal reduplication, whereby a root may acquire two productive suffixes or prefixes, different, but of the same
semantics, with the corresponding intensification of the meaning:[1]
"Подруга" ([pɐˈdruɡə])→"подружка" ([pɐˈdruʂkə])→"подруженька" ([pɐˈdruʐɨnʲkə] "
girlfriend"). Here, "г"→"ж" is an example of
consonant mutation, and "-к-" and "-ень-" are two diminutive-generating
suffixes. This kind of word formation is especially productive for
given names: "Екатерина" ([jɪkətʲɪˈrʲinə], "
Catherine")→"Катя" ([ˈkatʲə],
hypocoristic)→"Катюша" ([kɐˈtʲuʂə] "
Katyusha")→"Катюшенька" ([kɐˈtʲuʂɨnʲkə])→"Катюшенечка" ([kɐˈtʲuʂɨnʲɪtɕkə], sounds intentionally ridiculous)
Another example:
"Забыть" ([zɐˈbɨtʲ], "to forget")→"призабыть" ([prʲɪzɐˈbɨtʲ], "to forget for a while")→"попризабыть" ([pəprʲɪzɐˈbɨtʲ])
^
abcО. Ю. Крючкова, "Специфика внутрисловных удвоений в русском языке", in Proc. Intl. Congress Russian Language: Historical Fates and Modern Times ("Русский язык: исторические судьбы и современность"), Moscow, MSU, March 13–16, 2001, section "Word Formation of the Modern Russian Language" (in Russian)
^Israeli, A. (1997). "Syntactic reduplication in Russian: A cooperative principle device in dialogues".
Journal of Pragmatics, 27(5), 587-609