Partial Reduplication

Structure

Reduplication is a kind of derivation. In Yucatec Maya its formal characteristics are, first of all, repeating the onset and the nucleus of a root respectively a stem's first syllable. This syllable forms the base of the reduplication. Only if the coda is a nasal it may be repeated, too. The reduplicator precedes the base. Generally reduplication has the following structure:

Sometimes the base vowel changes from a to e or i within the reduplicator.

• E3: chak 'to cook, to boil' → che'chak 'stew made of fresh mead'
• E4: chaan 'small' → chi:chaan 'very small'

Moreover, when the coda is a semivowel the following structure occurs:

This is supported by the example p'uy 'to shred' → p'u'p'uy 'to shatter'.

The vowel of the reduplicated part is often glottalizied although the base vowel is not. So the structure {C1V' - C1V(C2)}({- ...}) occurs. One assumption is that such an additional glottal stop occurs in every case except with reduplicated transitive verbs based on transitive roots containing a double vowel (Bricker 1998: 340 ff.). Then a double vowel (without glottal stop) should occur in the reduplicator, too. But examples taken from the Maya lexicon provided by the present webpage disprove this, e. g. t'óok 'to bend, to snap off' → t'o't'óok 'to bend/ to snap off very fast'; tsiik 'to tear sth. into pieces' → tsi'tsiik 'to burst, to cut into pieces, to break up'. Unfortunately the cases of reduplication found in the Maya lexicon are not numerous enough to make any statments about additional glottalization in the reduplicated part. So the assumption that this phenomenon depends on the speaker (Bolles 1996) is not out of the question.

The assumption the vowel of the reduplicator always wears an acute (Bricker 1998: 340 ff.) cannot be corraborated by the Maya lexicon for cases like the following ones:

• E5: léem 'to shine' → lemléem 'to sparkle, to glitter'
• E6: tal 'to feel', k'ab 'hand, finger' → tatalk'ab 'to feel around, to pat down'

Types of Reduplication

Pure Reduplication

Pure reduplication means reduplication without involvement of any other morphological processes. The following table gives an overview of the most important kinds of pure reduplication. For further information look up the relevant paragraphs.

As the above table shows, with pure reduplication part of speech always stays the same. Of a different nature are the kinds of combined reduplication (see 1.2.2).

Specialization of nouns

The meaning of nouns can be specialized by reduplication (cf. Specialization of verbs).

Intensivation of adjectives

Some adjectives can be intesified by reduplication. The meaning of the basic adjective is intensified by 'very'.

Attenuation of adjectives

According to Andrade (1955 § 4.69), in case of some adjectives reduplication stands for a kind of attenuation. He gives the example náach 'far' → na'náach 'rather far'. But there is no evidence for forms like that in the Maya lexicon provided by the present webpage .

Distribution with verbs

Reduplication of some roots signifies distribution insofar as one expands the basic meaning with 'in many places', 'at several places' or 'here and there'.

Repetition with verbs/ Iterative verbs

Iterative verbs are also formed by reduplication. The reduplicated form then expresses multiple repetition of the action denoted by the basic verb.

Intensivation/ Specialization of verbs

A verbal meaning can also be intensified or specialized by reduplicating. Intensivation in that context means strengthening the meaning to the extreme. Specializiation means adding more details to the basic meaning.

Combined Reduplication

Reduplication can be a concomitant of other morphological processes. In these cases either simple bases (process involved: conversion) can be involved or additional derivational suffixes (process involved: derivation) or additional roots (process involved: compounding). When reduplication occurs together with another word formation process it is difficult to state in what order the processes take place. What is certain is that if both processes involved exist independently of one another, they take place in succession instead of forming together one single process occurring at one time. In the case of compounding for instance a (most often verbal) base is combined with another root as modifier. The latter can itself be a noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb. This process is then combined with reduplication.
The following table gives an overview of the most important kinds of reduplication combined with other word formation processes. For further information look up the relevant paragraphs.

Deverbal nouns

Nouns can be formed on verbal basis by reduplicating the verbal root. In contrast to the kinds of reduplication spoken of in section 1.2.1 the part of speech changes here, although there is no formal difference between deverbal nouns and reduplicated verbs (§§ 1.2.1.4 - 1.2.1.6).

Deverbal adjectives

Adjectives can also be formed on basis of verbs by reduplication plus suffixing -ki(l) onto the resulting stem. -kil is an adjectival suffix signifying something like 'able to [verb]-ing'.

Duration with -(l)ankil

Reduplication for expressing duration often occurs in connection with the durative marker -ankil (variant: -lankil). This component denotes an action which is intermittent or rhythmic. The usage of -ankil is not restricted to cooccurrence with reduplication It is an independent morphological process. In connection with reduplication, the result of the interaction of both processes always is an intransitive verb - no matter what part of speech the basis belongs to.

Nominal compounding: verb + noun

Nouns can be formed by reduplicating a compound base consisting of a verbal and a nominal root. The resulting structure could be presented thus: [ [ [X]_V [Y]_N ]_Z [Reduplication of Z] ]_N . The result is a noun with a complex meaning which is more than the addition of the meaning of the basic verb and noun.

Verbal compounding I: Incorporation

Verbs can be formed on reduplication of compound bases. In this section compound bases made of a verbal base and a nominal modifyer are considered. The constituents of this operation can be analyzed thus: [ [ [X]_V [Y]_N ]_Z [Reduplication of Z] ]_V .
A noun occurring very often in that context is chek' 'foot', as the following examples show:

Incorporation with nouns other than chek' can be seen in the following examples.

Some of the results of reduplication in this section being an intransitive verb can be formed into a transitive verb by adding the transitivizer -t to the intransitive form, according to the formula [ [X]_V.itr. -t]_V.tr.. The following transitive forms of that kind are proved in the Maya lexicon:

• ch'a'ch'a'book (intrans.) 'to sniff' → ch'a'ch'a'book-t (trans.) 'to sniff at'
• ba'ba'lchek' (intrans.) 'to roll by foot, to stamp, to tap one's feet' → ba'ba'lchek'-t (trans.) 'to roll by foot'
• k'ok'obni' (intrans.) 'to sniff around' → k'ok'obni'-t (trans.) 'to sniff around'
• tutukchi' (intrans.) 'to scold, to mutter' → tutukchi'-t (trans.) 'to scold, to mutter'

Verbal compounding II: adjective + noun

In this section compound bases made of an adjectival base and a nominal modifyer are considered. The constituents can be analyzed thus: [ [ [X]_Adj [Y]_N ]_Z [Reduplication of Z] ]_V .

Verbal compounding III: adverb + noun

Also reduplication of compound bases including adverbs and nouns is possible: [ [ [X]_Adv [Y]_N ]_Z [Reduplication of Z] ]_V .

Total Reduplication

A special kind of adjectives can be formed by total reduplication of a whole root and inserting -V_in- between base and reduplicator. These adjectives refer to objects that are dispersed in space.
This form of reduplication has got a special structure differing from the common form:

If the vowel of the basic monosyllabic verbal root is a, o or u then Vi is e. If the root vowel is e, Vi is u. In case of the root vowel being i both forms are possible for Vi (Bricker 1998: 374 ff.).
Examples taken from the Maya lexicon provided by the present webpage:

References

Andrade, M. J. (1955): A grammar of modern Yucatec. URL: https://www.christianlehmann.eu/ling/sprachen/maya/andrade/index_edit.html [state: 25.01.2009].

Blair, R. W. (1964): Yucatec Maya noun and verb morpho-syntax. Bloomington: Indiana University PhD diss. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms (65-3466).

Bolles, D. & A. (1996): A Grammar of the Yucatecan Mayan Language. URL: http://www.famsi.org/reports/96072/grammar/index.html [state: 25.01.2009].

Bricker, V. R. et al. (1998): A dictionary of the Maya language as spoken in Hocabá, Yucatán. With a botanical index by Anne S. Bradburn. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

¹ x- is a feminine marker used for female living beings as well as for inventary of traditional culture, as for instance villages, plants and artefacts.