Reduplication of nominal modifiers in Singapore english: A semantic and cultural interpretation

Jock Wong*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    15 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    While the formal properties of reduplication in many languages have aroused the interest of many linguists and much appears to have been done in this area, the same cannot be said about its semantics. It seems that our understanding of the kinds of meaning associated with reduplication processes remains rather limited. This is regrettable, given that language meaning can shed a lot of light on the speech community’s ways of thinking and norms of interaction. In this paper, the object of study is a widely used reduplication process in Singapore English – the reduplication of nominal modifiers. I will endeavour to identify its meaning and articulate it in the form of a reductive paraphrase. I will also try to show that its use may be linked, via meaning, with a culture-specific norm of interaction that seems to be characteristic of Singapore English speakers.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)339-354
    Number of pages16
    JournalWorld Englishes
    Volume23
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2004

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