Interna onal Academy Journal of Administra on, Educa on and Society

Volume 9, Issue 5, PP 42-50, ISSN: 2382-9035, October, 2023

DOI: 2721-42529-47384-954
Interna onal Academy Journal of Administra on, Educa on and Society
Double Blind Peer Reviewed Interna onal Research Journal
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©Academic Science Archives (ASA)

Reduplica on in the Urhobo Language

Joshua Ruese Godwin-Ivworin
Email: pro ice21@gmail.com | Phone: +23408063254168
School of Post-Graduate Studies, Delta State University, Abraka
Department of Languages and Linguis cs

Abstract: This study inves gates reduplica on in Urhobo. Reduplica on in Urhobo is a morphological a tude of
crea ng an empha c word from exis ng lexical items. The objec ve of this study is to inves gate how reduplica on is
being formed in the Urhobo language. This research shall give a en on to only the process of reduplica ons that are
prevalent in Urhobo language. The research data elicited for this study is restricted to only aspects of reduplica on that
are prevalent in Urhobo language. This includes; adjec ves, nouns, verbs and phonological par cles. Six na ve speakers
of Urhobo were consulted for the gramma cal judgments about the data. The study reveals that Urhobo employs
reduplica on both in spoken and in wri en form for the purpose of placing emphasis in narra ons. Complete word and
other morphological en ty are reduplicated in Urhobo for seman c purpose. Such has been referred to as
Morphological doubling. The study further revealed how Urhobo uses reduplica on in ordinary discourse to make
emphasis on important idea. Finally, the study reveals that reduplica on is used in inflec ons to convey a gramma cal
func on, such as plurality, intensifica on, etc., and in lexical deriva on to create new words. It is o en used when a
speaker adopts a tone more "expressive" or figura ve than ordinary speech and is also o en, but not exclusively, iconic
in meaning.

Keywords: Adjec ves, complete, nouns, phonological par cles, reduplica on, Urhobo, verbs

© 2023. Joshua Ruese Godwin-Ivworin. This is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Crea ve
Commons A ribu on-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported License h p://crea vecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0, permi ng
all non-commercial use, distribu on, and reproduc on in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1.1 Background to the study

This study focused on reduplica on process in the Urhobo language. Language, according to Jike and
Ogege (2007), expresses not only our thoughts but conveys a cri cal synergy between our collec ve
percep on and our leverage of influence over social reality. One unique aspect of the socio-cultural
linguis cs of Urhobo is the reduplica on process employ in conveying cri cal idea over social reali es.
Reduplica on has been defined by Aziza (2007), as a morphological process in which a part or the whole
of a stem is copied and a ached to the stem When only a part of the stem is copied, the process is called
par al reduplica on but where the copying involves the whole stem, the process is called complete
reduplica on. While Imu, (2021), Imu, & Ejobee (2021), and Imu, & Cookey (2022) see reduplica on as
morphological processes in the forma on of complex words, or in the crea on of new words.

Special cogni ve proper es of reduplica on differen ate it from other addi ve and modificatory
morphological procedures. That is, morphemes in reduplica on are not specified with respect to their
segmental form, but the phonological form depends on the form of the base. Despite the preliminary
formal character of the defini ons, reduplica on is clearly a word forma on procedure and is not

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phonologically mo vated. Because of this par cular characteris c, there are two relevant levels for the
categoriza on of the different types of reduplica on, be it a cross-linguis c or a language internal study,
the formal and the func onal level. With some languages or language comparisons it might be useful to
compose a list of the func onal reduplica on types, especially if there is only one formal type, as for
example complete reduplica on in Urhobo. Generally, it is more convenient to start from the formal level,
whereas the different formal types usually can be listed unambiguously, the func onal types o en overlap
or can be described only vaguely.

In Urhobo morphology reduplica on is applied in forming complex words (see Imu, (2021), Imu, & Ejobee
(2021), and Imu, & Cookey (2022)). Most me, Urhobo applied reduplica on to emphasis an important
idea in a morphological construc on. This has a racted the a en on of linguists including the present
study to review the process of reduplica on in the language. Perhaps Urhobo language speakers are not
familiar with the phenomenon, but they can find it in almost every noun phrase and the verb phrase of
the language. Reduplica on in linguis cs 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 is used in inflections to convey a grammatical function, such as plurality,

intensification, etc., and in lexical derivation to create new words. It is often used when a speaker
adopts a tone more "expressive" or figurative than ordinary speech and is also often, but not
exclusively, iconic in meaning. Reduplication is found in a wide range of languages and language
groups, though its level of linguistic productivity varies. Reduplication is the standard term for
this phenomenon in linguistics literature. Other terms that are occasionally used include cloning,
doubling, duplication and repetition.

Reduplica on is a repe on of a whole stem in producing a word. Reduplica on can be studied in many
languages including Urhobo language. The point of inves ga ng reduplica on process in Urhobo language
is arrived at on how words are pronounced to mean another term and to lay emphasis on what we are
trying to say. One of the uniqueness of Urhobo language is emphasis. Urhobo is one of the African
languages that places emphasis on specific words by reduplica ng words or the items of words.

1.2 Reduplica on and repe ons

Reduplica on is a word forma on process in which some part of a base (a segment, syllable, morpheme)
is repeated, either to the le , or to the right of the word or, occasionally, within the middle of the word.
While reduplica on is found in a wide range of languages and language groups, its level of linguis c
produc vity varies and it is some mes used interchangeably with repe on. Repe on is a term which
is used to indicate sounds and concepts that are repeated in one form or the other to provide
reinforcement and emo onal emphasis.

Ghomeshi et. al. (2004) refers to it as child language, amongst its numerous defini on. It is widely used
as a poe c device which occurs when a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pa ern is
repeated to make it the basic unifying device. In describing the features of repe on, Lausberg (1998)
proposes that it has both informa ve and reinforcing func ons. However, Wang (2005) insists that both
repe on and reduplica ons have been used interchangeably because they overlap at some point. This
is evident in the Malay Language, where repe on is used interchangeably with reduplica on. The Malay
phrase kata ganda refers to a mul ple word while kata ulang is used to denote repeated words. Both kata
ganda (reduplica on) and kata ulang (repe on) are used in inflec ons to convey a gramma cal func on,

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i.e., plurality, intensifica on, as well as in lexical deriva on to create new words. This is unlike the English
Language, where repe on is used to signify a more "expressive" tone or figura ve speech which is also
o en, but not exclusively, iconic in meaning e.g. They were amazed at this big, big voice coming out of this
ny girl. Dis nc on between reduplica on and repe on is clear, and cannot be equated in Urhobo.

2. Literature review
2.1 Conceptual defini ons
Ma hews (2007) define reduplica on as the second morphological process that operate in the forma on
of new word. It is a process whereby another shade of meaning is produced by reduplica ng whole or part
of the root.

Ifode (2002: 216) said Reduplica on “involves a repe on of part of a word or a whole simple word which
already existed.

According to Inkelas and Zoll (2005), there are two basic approaches to reduplica on: the phonological
copying and morpho-seman c (MS) feature reduplica on. Phonological copying is a process that copies
the whole or part of a phonological cons tuent, feature, or segment. The morpho-seman c feature
reduplica on is triggered by a morphological, rather than phonological, process of reduplica on, which
generates a new seman c func on.

2.2 Theore cal studies

Several authors have argued in favour of the hypothesis that the existence of par al reduplica on implies
the existence of full reduplica on (Rubino, 2005a, b). This seems to be true because morphology begins
from phonology. Without sound there is no word or word forma on. This has drawn the a en on of
scholars to the proposal of morphological theory of reduplica on and phonological theory of
reduplica on.

The morphological theory of reduplica on known as Morphological Doubling Theory (MDT) developed in
Inkelas and Zoll (2005), is an approach to reduplica on in which morphological construc ons can call for
two instances of the same morphological cons tuent, where ‘‘same’’ is defined at the level of meaning,
not phonology. Morphological doubling can target a whole word, a stem, a root, or even an affix. It is not
phonological in nature. In MDT, there is no phonological correspondence between the two copies of the
relevant morphological cons tuent. Double morphological inser on, not the phonological grammar, is the
mechanism producing duplica on. Phonology is, nonetheless, crucially involved in many morphological
doubling construc ons. As is well known, morphological reduplica on is o en accompanied by the
phonological modifica on of one or both copies.

Then, the phonological duplica on. This is the approach applied by Walker (2000a, b, c, 2003), Mpiranya
(2006) and Hansson (2001, 2007). Phonological duplica on can be defined generally as any increase in the
number of posi ons in which a given feature, segment, or even string appears in the output, rela ve to
the input, (Hansson, 2007). Phonological duplica on involves the extension to another segmental posi on
of phonological features which would independently be present in the output.

There are possibili es for formal as well as for func onal types of reduplica on and languages make use
of these op ons in very different ways and to very different extents. What is interes ng and some mes
puzzling is the way in which the forms and the func ons are matched. In the "ideal" case of one-to-one

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correspondence in terms of dis nc veness, i.e. isomorphism, one form would express exactly one
meaning and one meaning would be expressed by exactly one form. For example, Lampung has a clear
dis nc on between intensifica on by complete reduplica on and diminu on by par al reduplica on (e.g.
balak+balak 'very large' – xa+xabay 'somewhat afraid'. Walker 1976, cited Rubino 2005b: 20).

2.3 Empirical studies

Aziza (2007) ‘s work gave examples of reduplica on in group. One of the group is verb stem + verb stem
= adjec ve. Here, according to her, if verb stem is monosyllabic, complete reduplica on takes place. e.g.,
bi ‘be black’ biebi‘blackish’. Par al reduplica on on the other hand takes place with only the first syllable
prefixed to the full stem. Other group of reduplica on in Urhobo according to her are: prefix + verb stem
+ verb stem = adjec ve/clause, gerund + gerund, par cle + noun + par cle + noun and then noun + noun.
Examples of reduplica on are discussed under the above groups based on their seman c effect, (Aziza,
2007). Similar method was applied in the present study. However, the verb stem + verb stem = adjec ve
is discussed as complete adjec ve reduplica on in Urhobo. The example bi and biebi cited in Aziza (2007)
as seen above is an adjec ve reduplica on. When we talk about par al reduplica on and complete
reduplica on in Urhobo, the process is mostly common on adjec ves, nouns and verbs.

Ejobee (2018) worked on reduplica on in Urhobo and used the CV Template as a theore cal frame work.
The study revealed the syllable of the reduplicated words and demonstrated the part of speech in which
the root word belongs and the one to which it belongs a er the reduplica on of the stem. Among many
others, the study revealed that reduplica on in Urhobo func ons as tense marker and as plural marker.
There are some phenomena which are lightly similar to the present study. A number of data presented in
the present study are achieved through affixa on or inser on a whole or parts.

Mbah (2006) worked reduplica on in Ibibo; the study revealed that the consonants, the tones and the
vowels of the base in Igbo, are completely copied by the reduplicant. In the derived form, one half is the
base while the other is the reduplicant.

3. Reduplica on in the Urhobo language

In Urhobo, reduplica on is a linguis c form which contains systema c non-recursive repe on of
phonological material for morphological or lexical purposes.
Data presented for this study are grouped into two; the complete reduplica on and the par al
reduplica on. For the complete reduplica on, we considered data that are with morphological cons tuent
(the simplex form) and data that are copied as a whole. e.g. a root, a stem, a word, or, much less frequent
as an affix. Examples in Urhobo are:

Gbe ‘be dirty’ gbe + gbe = gbegbe ‘dirty’

Dan ‘be sharp’ dan + dan = dandan ‘sharp’

For the par al reduplica on, we focused on data where a por on of the simplex form, smaller than the
whole, is copied, or, in the case of lexical reduplica on, that the lexeme contains a certain segmental string
twice or more. The reduplicated “por on” can be a segmental or a prosodic defined unit, i.e. a phoneme
sequence, a syllable, a foot, etc.

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Lexical reduplica ons can be classified in different ways as following: First, complete reduplica ons and
par al reduplica ons. Reduplica on can also be group according to their lexical categories such as noun,
verb, adverb and adjec ve. This we intend to achieve by grouping them broadly under the complete
reduplica on and the par al reduplica on respec vely.

3.2 Complete reduplica on

In Urhobo, complete reduplica on can be achieved in three ways;

i.) Words that are monosyllabic are completely repeated, to achieve reduplication process in
the formation of new words. Examples are seen in example 1 – 11 below.
1.) Gbe ‘be dirty ’ gbe+gbe = gbegbe ‘dirty’
2.) Gan ‘be strong’ gan+gan = gangan ‘strong’
3.) Dọn ‘to lean’ dọn+dọn = dọndọn ‘lean’
4.) Gron ‘be tall’ gron+gron = grongron ‘tall’

The above examples are monosyllabic adjec ves that are completely reduplicated without any inser on.
However, there are also some monosyllabic adjec ves that cannot complete reduplica on without
inser on. In other words, there are complete reduplica ons of monosyllabic adjec ves without inser on
and there are complete reduplica ons of monosyllabic adjec ves with inser on.
Below are examples of complete reduplica on of monosyllabic with inser ons.

5.) Bi ‘be black’ bi+e+bi = biebi ‘black’

6.) Sun ‘be elastic’ sun+e+sun = sunesun ‘elastic’
7.) Bun ‘be plenty’ bun+e+bun = bunebun ‘plenty’
8.) Rho ‘to big’ rho+a+rho = rhoarho ‘big’

ii.) The second way of having complete reduplication in Urhobo, is through some adjectives
with disyllabic. Examples are:
9.) Zighi ‘be rough’ zighi+zighi = zighz ‘rough’
10.) Yagha ‘be scarter’ yagha+yagha = yaghayagha ‘scatter’
11.) Gunu ‘be bend’ gunu+gunu =gunugunu ‘bend’
iii.) The third way or processes of complete reduplication is by attaching a morpheme kẹas
prefix to some noun. Though regular phonological processes like assimilation,
deletion or contraction, tone adjustment etc. may take place to achieve the new
word. Examples are
iv.) Particle+Noun + Particle+ Noun:
12.) Kẹ+amwa + kẹ+amwa = kamwakamwa
Cloth every cloth

13.) Kẹ+obọ + kẹ+obọ = kobọkobọ

Hand any hand

14.) Kẹ+orere + kẹ+orere = korerekorere

Town every town

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15.) Kẹ+ukpe + kẹ+ukpe = kupkekupke

Year every year

16.) Kẹ+ẹdẹ + kẹ+ẹdẹ= kẹdẹkẹdẹ

Day everyday

17.) Kẹ+asan + kẹ+asan = kasankasan

Place any place
In the above examples there is vowel dele on from the par cle. However, the par cle is not considered
as word but a supporter. Therefore, its’ dele on does not prevent the forma on from been a complete
reduplica on.

3.3 Par al reduplica on

According to Aziza (2007), “When only a part of the stem is copied, the process is called par al”.

Disyllabic adjec ve stem

These are disyllabic adjec ves that when they are reduplicated to form new words they cannot be
completely duplicated. Dele on must occur. Examples in Urhobo are:

18.) Hanvwe+hanvwe ‘to small’ = hahanvwe ‘small’

19.) Ghanre+ghanre ‘be expensive’ = ghaghanre ‘expensive’
20.) Yovwi+yovwi ‘be beautiful’ = yoyovwi ‘beautiful’
21.) Vware+vware ‘be red’ = vwavware ‘red’
In the above examples we can see that the first adjec ves are not completely reduplicated, only the second
adjec ves that are fully reduplicated at the new stage. Therefore, they are par al reduplica on because
dele on occurs in one part of a whole word.

Examples of gerund with par al reduplica on

22.) Ekpirho+ekpirho = ekpeekpirho

To fold folding

23.) Eduvwo+eduvwo = edeeduvwo

To pierce piercing

24.) Ẹkọn+ẹkọn = ẹkẹẹkọn

To plant plan ng

25.) Emuo+emuo = emueemuo

To carry con nuous carrying

26.) Ẹsuọ+ẹsuọ = ẹsuẹẹsuọ

To sing con nuous singing

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27.) Ẹda+ẹda = ẹdẹẹda

To drink con nuous drinking

28.) Ẹfọrhọn+ẹfọrhọn = ẹfẹẹfọrhọn

To wash con nuous washing

29.) Oshọ+oshọ = oshoshọ

To fear con nue in fear

30.) Ẹriọ+ẹriọ = ẹriẹẹriọ

To eat con nuous ea ng

In the above examples there are assimila on in final vowels that are duplicated to form the new gerund
and there are dele ons.

3.4 Noun + Noun par al reduplica on

In this construc on, par al reduplica on occurs involving only the ini al vowel and consonants of nouns
which are prefixed to the full noun. Examples are:

31.) Igho+igho = ighigho

Money plenty money

32.) Irere+irere = irirere

Towns so many towns

33.) Iwenvwi+iwenvwi = iwiwevwi

Houses so many houses

34.) Egọ+egọ = egegọ

Bo les so many bo les

35.) Epkẹn+ekpẹn = ekpekpe

Sand so many sand.

4. Summary of findings

The study reveals that there are two type of reduplica on in Urhobo, the complete reduplica on and the
par al reduplica on, and that monosyllabic adjec ves are usually complete reduplica on in Urhobo. It
also reveals that there are complete reduplica ons with inser on and that there are others without
inser on. From data analysis in sec on three above such as in example (8)rho ‘big’ rho+a+rho ‘biggish’
. Nouns, adjec ves and verb reduplicate completely in the language but it does not mean that all the
nouns, adjec ves and verbs reduplicate either completely or par ally.

4.2 Conclusion

This revealed that reduplica on is not a new ground. Enormous work of research has been carried out on
this topic. But that does not mean that it has been exhaus vely inves gated, especially in the Urhobo
language. We therefore recommended that further research should be carried out to graze other aspects

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of this topic, such as the seman c analysis and phonological analysis of word forma on processes in the
Urhobo language. This study we go a long way to serve as a landscape to further research works. Finally,
the study of reduplica on in Urhobo cannot be exhausted but we believed that these study and the
findings have been able to add to the exis ng literatures in the area of morphology, especially in the
Urhobo language.

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