1 - Introduction

Summary

This study is ultimately concerned with the way in which morphological form, semantic interpretation, and conceptual structure interlink in the domain of word formation. It pursues this concern by analyzing Afrikaans reduplication in the Galilean style. To proceed in this way requires the ultimate concern to be broken down into three concerns of a more immediate and specific sort: a grammatical, a general linguistic, and a metascientific one.

The grammatical or language-specific concern of this study is with the form and meaning of Afrikaans reduplications. Reduplication in Afrikaans has conventionally been taken to be a process that forms expressions such as those underscored in (1)(a)–(k).

1. (a) Die kinders drink bottels–bottels limonade. the children drink bottles bottles lemonade “The children drink bottles and bottles of lemonade.”

2. (b) Hulle speel weer bal – bal. they play again ball ball “They are playing their ball game again.”

3. (c) Die pad was ent – ent sleg. the road was stretch stretch bad “The road was bad in some (scattered) stretches.”

4. (d) Sy kruk – kruk stadig oor die woelige straat. she crutch crutch slowly across the busy street “She moves slowly on her crutches across the busy street.”

5. (e) Die dokter vat – vat aan die swelsel. the doctor touch touch on the swelling “The doctor tentatively feels the swelling a couple of times.”

6. (f) Die leeu loop brul–brul weg. the lion walk roar roar away “Roaring repeatedly, the lion walks away.”

7. (g) Hulle eet dik – dik snye brood, they eat thick thick slices bread “They eat thumping thick slices of bread.”