Reduplicated Expressives in Lepcha

Abstract

Reduplication is defined as repetition or copying of a word or a syllable either exactly or partially in order to bring modification in the semantic interpretation or to convey some special meaning. As observed in Lepcha, (a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal) reduplicated expressives (structures which represent sounds or senses) may belong to the category of full reduplication as well as partial reduplication. Being an important structural phenomenon of the South Asian languages reduplicated expressives play a vital role in the system of communication and so demands a vivid description of its form and function with reference to the semantic interpretation. The data of the present paper has been collected from field investigation conducted in Kalimpong subdivision of Darjeeling district of West Bengal.