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Article published In: International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 12:1 (2025) ► pp.66–93

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Split Reduplicant Hypothesis

Evidence from tetrasyllabic reduplicated adjectives in Taiwanese

 | University of Ottawa
Published online: 10 June 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.00035.che
Abstract
In this paper, I propose Split Reduplicant Hypothesis against previous research, claiming of one reduplicant being able to yield the diverse interpretation of adjectival reduplications, specifically the tetrasyllabic reduplicated adjectives. Following cartographic syntax, it is not satisfying and problematic for one reduplicant to host the diverse features and denote the distinct interpretations. Therefore, three reduplicants are proposed: redh, redm as well as redl, for example, redh refers to [aug], an emphatic interpretation; redm refers to [dim], a weakening reading; and redl refers to [neu], a positive interpretation, respectively. In other words, I propose the hierarchical structure of split reduplicants based on the interactions with the Taiwanese reduplicated adjectives. In addition to morphosyntactic reduplication, pragmatic-driven reduplication is also found. From the cross-linguistic point of view, Split Reduplicant Hypothesis is also applicable across languages. Intriguingly, tone sandhi also can play a role in determining the interpretations of adjectival reduplications, which indicates tone sandhi can correspond to the distinct reduplicants.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Tetrasyllabic reduplicated adjectives in Taiwanese
  • 3.Root merger
  • 4.Split Reduplicant Hypothesis (SRH)
    • 4.1Is one reduplicant enough?
    • 4.2Pragmatics-driven
  • 5.Adjectival reduplications across languages
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (49)
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