Not Just Jibber Jabber

February 25, 2013

Why do speakers sometimes repeat the same word, or similar sounding words, twice, as in “night night” or “bye bye” or “flim flam”? LSA English Professor Anne Curzan reveals that this phenomenon— known as reduplication— is more than just baby talk, exploring the fascinating way that repetition can clarify a word's prototypical meaning.

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Video production by Natalie Condon.