Survive to Read

this is called reduplication. according to wikipedia, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word—or part of it, or even the whole word—is repeated exactly or with a slight change.

reduplication in tahitian is not just for emphasis—repeating a word can change its meaning in subtle ways. it might make something feel more poetic, more continuous, or even softer or cuter. it can also intensify or pluralize a word. the possibilities are endless!

since reduplication is a very common feature in reo tahiti, i could easily find quite a few examples. here's a short, non-exhaustive list of tahitian reduplications:

iti (small, little) → itiiti (very small; little by little)

to’a (coral) → to’ato’a (to smell of coral)

oni (male) → ’oni’oni (macho, to act like a male, to brag)

tio (oyster) → tiotio (small oyster)

rima (hand) → rimarima (finger)

tipi (knife) → tipitipi (to peel the vegetables)

rave (to take) → raverave (to shoplift)

ta’i (to cry) → ta’ita’i (to chirp, shout, cry repeatedly (over and over again, nonstop), cry together at the same time)

’ata (to laugh) → ’ata’ata (to laugh often, laugh with others, laugh together)

haere (to go) → hāhaere (to go—the two of us—together)

rahi (tall, broad) → rahirahi (two or more tall, broad things or people)

horoi (to wash) → horohoroi (to wash repeatedly)

tāpū (to cut) → tāpūpū (to cut several times, to cut into small pieces)

ta’oto (to sleep) → tā’oto’oto (to get some sleep)

fa’ari’i (to accept) → fa’ari’iri’i (to come to accept little by little, to tolerate)

ta’amino (to turn) → ta’aminomino (to go round and round; labyrinthine, as tangled as a labyrinth)

neva (to turn one's head to the side to look) → nevaneva (startled, restless, distracted, constantly moving, unsettled)

the tahitian language also uses what is known as metathesis, a process that involves reversing the order of syllables to change or alter meaning. for example:

niho (tooth) → honi (to bite)

’ōmuhu (to whisper) → ’ōhumu (to slander in a low voice)

maru (shade, shadow) → ruma (darkness) → rumaruma (nebula, nebulous; cloudy, obscured by clouds)

hook idea: reduplication is a highly productive process of word formation. it allows for the creation of new words and thus enriches vocabulary. sometimes it turns a noun into a verb, or a stative verb into an action verb; or changes the meaning altogether. newly created words can convey a wide range of nuances: more or less, smaller or larger, resemblance, greater quantity (plural), smaller quantity, repetition (frequency),... a whole range of nuances that are worth learning!

For example, a couple years ago, while learning Spanish, I encountered the word for a store, "la tienda." I thought "huh, that's a lot like tener (tiene) - the word for store in Spanish literally corresponds to 'to have/keep'. How interesting!"

restarting punjabi. relearning how to learn a language. i got way in over my head last time trying to memorize all the cases at once, but i found a tutor and am taking it easy. i hate using roman letters and feeling like a total beginner in a language i already know, but it's good to build a strong foundation, especially since i'm focusing on generating output. there's something very healing about the way she corrects me so gently. maybe it's okay to make mistakes??????

Grammar Notebook - “To Change One’s Mind” in Spanish

In Spanish if you want to express that you have changed your mind about [something] you are going to use the following structure:

cambiar (to change) + de + opinión

Let’s look at some examples:

• Albert was going to study Engineering but he changed his mind.

• Albert iba a estudiar ingeniería, pero cambió de opinión.

• She always changes her mind at the last minute.

• Siempre cambia de opinión en el último momento.

• You know what? I changed my mind.

• Sabes qué? He cambiado de opinión.

So a long time ago, I was lamenting the lack of punk/rock/goth music in Marathi right here on this very blog.

I took a spin around Bandcamp tonight though, and found a punk rock band that sings Marathi lyrics. They're called Shakti.

The twist?

THEY'RE BASED IN BARCELONA.

They released their first album this October, so I want to help promote a Marathi-language band!

Key parts of the legislation includes the right for parents to request Gaelic schools for their local area, and will help with standardisation of language teaching across the board.