STRUCTURAL PATTERNS AND FUNCTIONS OF REDUPLICATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN SLOVAK ROMANI

In Slovak Romani reduplication applies to nouns, adverbs, numerals, particles, interrogative adverbial pronouns, verbs and adjectives. The most prevalent type is total reduplication: either pure total reduplication which involves repetition of constituents without additional elements, or superadded total reduplication where the reduplicative construction is extended by additional elements (particles, conjunctions, prepositions, inflections and prefixes). Partial reduplication is rare. Reduplicative constructions have mainly an intensification and distributive function. Verbal reduplicates express an ongoing, continuous action, which requires some effort. Reduplicative constructions can also serve to express multiplication (a large quantity of), attenuation and indefiniteness. In some cases they have a derivative function; sometimes reduplicative constructions are lexicalized.