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Proto-Dynic: Difference between revisions
→Reduplication
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Proto-Dynic makes extensive use of reduplication to form the plural of nouns. Generally, the first onset and nucleus of a word are reduplicated, with any long vowels shortened in the reduplicated syllable: | Proto-Dynic makes extensive use of reduplication to form the plural of nouns. Generally, the first onset and nucleus of a word are reduplicated, with any long vowels shortened in the reduplicated syllable: | ||
* ''* | * ''*kel'' ('island') → ''*kekel'' ('islands') | ||
* ''* | * ''*dūnə'' ('person') → ''*dudūnə'' ('people') | ||
* ''* | * ''*sauk'' ('hawk') → ''*sasauk'' ('hawks') | ||
Reduplication can also be used with uncountable or collective nouns to refer to large or otherwise extreme or emphatic versions of a noun. The same is true of adjectives: | Reduplication can also be used with uncountable or collective nouns to refer to large or otherwise extreme or emphatic versions of a noun. The same is true of adjectives: | ||
* ''* | * ''*sēl'' ('the ocean') → ''*sesēl'' ('the vast ocean') | ||
* ''*hur- | * ''*hur-si'' ('tall, high') → ''*huhur-si'' ('very tall, very high') | ||
* ''*ə̄c- | * ''*ə̄c-si'' ('large, big') → ''*əʔə̄c-si'' ('huge, enormous') | ||
Occasionally a reduplicated term may carry both of these meanings. For example, ''* | Occasionally a reduplicated term may carry both of these meanings. For example, ''*kekel'' may have the plural meaning 'islands,' or the collective 'land, all the islands, great island, continent.' | ||
== Development == | == Development == | ||