Reduplicated Expressives in Lepcha
Satarupa Dattamajumdar*
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.
The Lepchas are the original inhabitants of Sikkim and are mostly settled in Dzongu valley of north Sikkim. They are also settled in Kalimpong subdivision of Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Apart from Sikkim and West Bengal, Lepcha is also spoken in Bhutan (lower valleys in the West and South) and Nepal (Mechi zone, Ilam district). Lepcha speech community is considered constitutionally a schedule tribe pertaining to the states of West Bengal and Sikkim in India.
According to 2001 census, total Lepcha population in India was 50,629. The population strength of Lepcha in Sikkim is 35, 728 according to 2001 census and 14,721 in West Bengal according to 2001 census. [according to: http://www.census India.gov.in/ Census_Data_2001/ census_Data_ online / Language/partb.htm] . Lepchas are also settled in Bhutan (Samasti district)---the population strength being 2,000(2001 Van Driem) and in Nepal (Ilam district)--- the population strength being 1,272 (1961 Census) [according to : http://www.ethnologue.com]
The Lepcha language (which is also known as Rong/Rongaring/Rongring) belongs to the Tibeto Burman language sub-family under Tibeto-Chinese language family. Lepcha is placed in the non-pronominalised group of the Himalayan languages under the Tibeto-Burman sub-family.
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. The phenomenon is explained in terms of copying followed by affixation (Dattamajumdar 2001:19) There are some reduplicated structures which represent sounds or senses and thus are expressives of a language. The expressives consist of repetition of a word or of a syllable. These expressives have been termed as Onomatopoeia, sound symbolism, ideophones and imitatives by different scholars at different times as all these represent natural sounds and express senses. But as Abbi (1992:15) proposes, “The best solution would be to treat all these forms by their various names under the term Expressives.”
As observed in Lepcha, reduplicated expressives may belong to the category of full reduplication as well as partial reduplication. Fully reduplicated expressives refer to those structures which are formed by exact doubling of the base form without any phonological alteration in the copied affixed part of the structure. On the other hand partially reduplicated expressives refer to those structures which involve alteration in the phonological shape of the affixed copied part of the reduplicated structure.
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.
Lepcha attests a number of fully reduplicated expressives. These may be imitation of natural sounds or may be expressive of senses. The fully reduplicated expressives are both phonologically and semantically significant in the language.
1. ʧyore bul bul ʧunɔn.
tea-seems imitative boiling
sound of
boiling
‘Tea is
boiling with the sound.’
2. iŋasɔŋ brok brok ma tyuk
child-pl. imitative neg. jump
sound of
jumping
‘The children should not jump with noise.’
3. nam leŋ fuleŋsɔŋ bruŋ bruŋ lɔkam.
young girl boy-pl. imitative dancing
sound of
drum beat
‘The young girls and boys are dancing with the loud sound of drum beat.’
4. hɔ yuk hrak hrak majuk.
you work imitative neg. to do
of rattling
sound
‘Do not work with (making) rough sounds.’
5. kuʧuŋ unu thaba kram kram hunʃyɔ.
corn to fry to eat imitative to be
sound of
breaking
something crispy
‘It is crispy to eat fried corn.’
6. hɯ suk suk thyopam.
she/he imitative crying
sound of
sobbing
‘She/he is sobbing.’
stomach expr.
of paining
gripping pain
2. tukya ka
nɔm kun kun unnɔn.
pan-loc. oil expr. of to be-pr.
blowing
smoke
‘The oil is smoking in the
pan.’
3. mennambu ambipɔt klem klem yumba.
ripe mango
expr. of seems to be
sweet taste
‘The ripe mango is sweet to taste.’
4. surɔŋ kɯsu sa
duŋpɔt kyup kyup dokam.
today me-gen. knee
expr. of paining
acute pain
‘Today my knee is paining acute.’
5. so zim zim yubam.
rain expr. of falling
drizzling
rain
‘It is drizzling.’
6. tuʧɔt ka ʧholi mu nɔŋ sa nyɔl nyɔl matʃ ya?
time –loc. school neg.
to go of expr. of why
being slow
‘Why are you slow/late, for
not going to school?’
The semantic features of the fully reduplicated expressives in Lepcha are as follows.
Degree of Manifestation
Continuation
Repetition
Mostly the fully reduplicated expressives which are the expressives of senses are found to manifest different qualities at different degrees. Some examples are presented below.
1. hɯ thyom thyom
lomam
he expr. of being walking
slow
‘He is walking slowly.’
2. sukmut dɔr dɔr dyam
wind expr. of blowing
blowing in
puff
‘The wind is blowing in
puffs.’
3. aŋanre sitet nop nop yumba
seat-needs how expr. of suppose to be
softness
‘The seat is supposed to be soft.’
Lepcha fully reduplicated expressives which are essentially imitative of some natural sounds of actions often convey the sense of a continuation of a sound. Examples are cited below.
1. thaŋ thaŋ mat nu m⋀ lom.
imitative to do by
neg. walk
sounds made
by
the heels
while walking
‘Donot walk by making sounds of
heels (continuously)’.
2. k⋀ar fo phur phur mat nu lomnɔn.
dove bird imitative sound to do by fly-abl.(past)
of flapping wings
‘The bird has flown flapping
the wings (continuously with the sound)’.
3. so mun mun yubam.
rain imitative coming down
sound of
drizzling
rain
‘It is drizzling
(continuously with the sound.’
Lepcha fully reduplicated expressives may convey the sense of repeated action. Some examples are given below.
1. myɔnbu
ariŋ bella bella yet
unknown word expr. of
to ask
repetition
‘Ask the unknown words
repeatedly.’
2. thal thal thom ka mu nun.
expr. of
town to neg. go
again and again
‘Do not go to the town
repeatedly.’
3. saark⋀p bruk bruk
matnɔ tyukkam
goat-child expr. of to do
jumping
repeated
up and down
‘The
goat-child is (repeatedly) jumping up and down.’
Partially reduplicated expressives which involve a partial phonological alteration in the copied part affixed to the base element is prevalent in Lepcha. Alteration of a vowel or a consonant in the suffixed copied part have been observed in case of the partially reduplicated structures in Lepcha. Such partially reduplicated expressives are exemplified below.
1. yuk dul dal m⋀ mat
work expr. of
being neg. do
jumble
‘Do not jumble up (confuse)
while working.
2. f⋀ŋ fiŋ taklyaŋ.
expr. of sky
cleanliness
‘The sky is clear.’
3. bruk brak so
yunon
expr. of falling rain
falling
in
drops
‘The
rain is falling in drops.’
4. tukfil n⋀ yɔop n⋀ ʧul ʧal hunbam.
ant by sting
from expr. of happenning
prickling
‘Stinging of the ant is
causing prickling sensation.’
5. hɔ yap yop matnɔ m⋀ lom.
you expr.of to
do neg. walk
staggering
‘ You shouldnot stagger
while walking.’
6. hɔ nɔŋ n⋀ li
hala vala hunnɔn.
you go after house expr.of to be-abl.(past)
emptiness
‘After your departure the
house became empty.’
The partially reduplicated expressives are found to be employed in order to convey different degrees of feeling and repeated actions. Thus it is the ‘Degree of Manifestation’ and ‘Repetition’ which covers the semantic interpretation of the partially reduplicated expressives in Lepcha.
Additionally a different structure of reduplicated expressive has been noticed in which two fully reduplicated expressives are used together in juxtaposition. An instance can be cited below.
1.surɔŋsa thupe ka iŋasɔŋ wur wur tiŋ tiŋ hunnɔn.
today-gen. occassion on child-pl. expr.of hurry/ to be scurry
‘Children are excited (in hurry/scurry) for today’s occasion/ function.’
REFERENCES
Abbi ,A. 1992.Reduplication in South Asian Languages --- An Areal, Typological and Historical Study. New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
Dattamajumdar, S. 2001. A Contrastive Study of the Reduplicated Structures in Asamiya, Bangla and Odia. Kolkata: Subarnarekha.
Dattamajumdar,S. 2008. ‘ Exploring
the Ethnolinguistic
Vitality:A Case Study in Dzongu Valley’ in http//www.languageinindia.com. vol.: 8
(e-Journal).
Mainwaring,G.B.1876. A Grammar of the Rong (Lepcha) language as it exists in the Dorjeeling and Sikkim Hills. Calcutta.
Mainwaring,G.B.1898. Dictionary of the Lepcha Language.Revised and completed by Albert Grunwedel.Berlin: Unger.
Plaisier,H.2003.(a).Catalogue of Lepcha Manuscripts in the Van manen Collection . Leiden: Kern Institute.
Plaisier,H. 2003(b). ‘Lepcha’. The Sino-Tibetan Languages.(Thurgood and Lapolla ed.)London & NewYork:Routledge.