LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 9 : 4 April 2009
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         K. Karunakaran, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.

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Verb Reduplication in Tamil and Telugu

A. Boologa Rambai, Ph.D.

Introduction

Reduplication is one of the important word formation processes noticed in Indian languages. Lawral J. Brinton in his Structure of English - An Introduction (1991, p.91) defines, "Reduplication is an initial process similar to derivation in which the initial syllable or the entire word is doubled, exactly or with a slight morphological change." Abbi (1992) talks about two types of reduplication, namely, Morphological and Lexical reduplication. She further divides the lexical reduplication in tothree: Echo-Formation, Compounds and Word Reduplication. The word reduplication may be further divided in to three parts: Complete, Partial and Discontinuous Reduplication.

Tamil and Telugu belong to the same language family, which is the Dravidian family. Both languages are treated to be as sister languages.

This Study

This paper highlights the verb reduplication processes in Tamil and Telugu. This study of reduplicated structure in Tamil and Telugu reveals the fact that though reduplication is a general morphological feature of the language, some specific characteristics in individual languages can be drawn from the functional point of view and from the semantic point of view as well.

An attempt is made in this paper to study the reduplicated verb from the point of view of occurrence in individual languages, its function and semantic interpretation. Both the kinds of verbs, finite as well as the non-finite verbs, reduplicate in Tamil and Telugu which are related to tense, aspect and person.

Tamil Verbs

Verbs occur as predicates in the rightmost position of a clause. Thomas Lehman in his A Grammar of Modern Tamil divides the verbs in Tamil into finite and non-finite and nominalized verb forms. He further divides the finite verbs in to Imperative, Indicative and Optative, and the non-finite verb forms into Infinitive, Verbal Participle, Conditional and Adjectival Participle.

Singular Imperative Positive Reduplication

In Tamil and Telugu the positive Imperative form is identical with the verb stem or root and thus devoid of any marker. These verbs are reduplicated and give the meanings Emphatic, Repetition, Entertainment, Irritation, Cordiality etc.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mean Length of Utterance and Syntax in Konkani | A Study of English Loan Words in Selected Bahasa Melayu Newspaper Articles | Verb Reduplication in Tamil and Telugu | The Relevance and Usefulness of European Literature for Innovations in Indian Literature - A Review | Girish Karnad as a Modern Indian Dramatist - A Study | Code Switching and Code Mixing Among Oriya Trilingual Children - A Study | T. S. Eliot - A Universal Poet With Appeal to Indian Spirituality | Academics' Perceptions of Reading and Listening Needs for English for Specific Purposes - A Case from National University of Malaysia | Perspectives on Teaching English Literature to English Literature Major Students | Myths and Legends in the Plays of Girish Karnad | Acoustic Correlates of Stress in Konkani Language | Compassion - Leo Tolstoy's Philosophy as Seen in His War and Peace | Role of Space in the Narratives of Bharathi Vasanthan, A People's Writer from Puducherry |Teaching English in Multiracial and Multilingual Nations - A Review of Maya Khemlani David's Book, A Guide for the English Language Teacher | HOME PAGE of April 2009 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR

A. Boologa Rambai, Ph.D.
Department of Tamil and Translation Studies
Dravidian University
Kuppam - 517 425
Andhra Pradesh, India
arpudharambai@gmail.com
 
Web www.languageinindia.com
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