reduplication (n.) (red, redup)

A term in MORPHOLOGY for a process of repetition whereby the form of a PREFIX/SUFFIX reflects certain PHONOLOGICAL characteristics of the ROOT. This process may be found in Greek, where the initial CONSONANT of the root is reduplicated in certain GRAMMATICAL CONTEXTS (PERFECTIVE forms); e.g.  , ‘I loose’, becomes  , ‘I have loosed’. In English the nearest one gets to this is in reduplicative compound words, such as helter-skelter, shilly-shally. The phonological processes involved in reduplication have been a particular focus of PROSODIC morphology, which distinguishes the base form (B) of the reduplication from the repeating element (the reduplicant, R), as well as PREFIXING and SUFFIXING types.