Reduplication

01

Words That Only Exist Doubled

A large number of everyday words are permanently reduplicated: the doubled form is the word. A few sit beside a shorter relative with a meaning of its own - tok "speak" beside toktok "talk", ting "think" beside tingting "thought", wasim "wash something" beside waswas "bathe" - but the doubled word is learned as a word, not built on the spot.

• kaikai - eat, food
• tingting - think, thought
• toktok - talk, speech
• waswas - wash, bathe
• singsing - sing, song
• liklik - small
• laplap - cloth, sarong
• kaukau - sweet potato

• Em kaikai wanpela apol.

  He is eating an apple.

• Mi gat sampela tingting.

  I have some ideas.

• Na em i toktok long mi.

  And he talked to me.

• Bihain bai mi wasim ples bilong waswas.

  Later I'll wash the bathroom.

02

Noun and Verb at Once

Notice how many of those glosses come in pairs - eat and food, think and thought, sing and song. Because Tok Pisin does not change a word's ending to move it between word classes, one reduplicated form covers both, and only its position in the sentence tells you which is meant.

• Mi go baim ol kaikai.

  I'm going to buy some food.

• Husat i singsing?

  Who is singing?

• Mi save long olgeta singsing bilong ol.

  I know all their songs.

In the second, singsing follows the predicate marker and is a verb; in the third it follows olgeta and is a noun. Nothing about the word changed.

03

Doubling for Distribution

The productive use. Repeating a number spreads it out over the members of a group - English "each", "one by one", "one apiece".

• Bos bilong mi givim mipela wan-wan botol wain long dring.

  My boss gave us each a bottle of wine to drink.

• Wan-wan meri i gat dispela hevi.

  Each woman has this problem.

• Ol i kaikai wan-wan lip tasol.

  They ate the leaves one by one.

• Raitim leta wan-wan, maski bungim.

  Write the letters one by one, don't bundle them.

wanpela botol would be one bottle in total; wan-wan botol is one bottle each. That is a distinction English needs a separate word for.

04

Doubling for Variety

Repeating kain "kind" gives "all kinds of, various".

• Em ken wokim kainkain samting.

  He can make all sorts of things.

• Kainkain tok olsem i stap.

  There is all kinds of talk like that.

• Benk i holim kainkain wok.

  The bank handles various kinds of business.

05

Doubling for Manner

Repeating an adverb stretches it out - gently, gradually, little by little.

• Em i mas skulim ol isi isi.

  He must teach them slowly and gently.

• Maus bilong paus i wok long op isi isi.

  The mouth of the pouch opens gradually.

06

A Note on Spelling

The productive doublings are written joined, hyphenated or spaced, with no settled rule. You will meet wan-wan and wan wan, kainkain and kain kain. The lexicalized ones like kaikai and tingting are always written solid.