English is full of expressions like these – have you ever noticed how many there are?
So, let’s learn some new words today!
Below, you can find 6 expressions containing reduplication (if you want to understand the pattern these expressions follow, just keep reading!)
bric-a-brac (noun)
small decorative objects of various types and of no great value:
They sell antiques and bric-a-brac.
mishmash (noun)
a confused mixture:
The new housing development is a mishmash of different architectural styles
crisscross (verb)
to move or exist in a pattern of crossing lines: From the air, we saw highways crisscrossing the farmland below.
singsong (noun or adjective)
a voice rising and falling in level:
She spoke in a singsong.
jibber jabber (verb or noun)
talk in a rapid, excited way that is difficult to understand. He was jibber-jabbering with his wife through the entire first piece.
Hoity-toity (adjective)
behaving as if you are better or more important than other people. She is a hoity-toity conservative lady. Be careful.
Now, let’s practice!
Which of the 6 expressions we just learned is missing in the sentences below?
- BRIC-A-BRAC
- SINGSONG
- MISHMASH
- HOITY-TOITY
- CRISSCROSS
- JIBER JABBER
- The green hill was ………………………. with a network of sheep tracks.
- The painting was just a ……………………. of colours and abstract shapes as far as we could tell.
- She had a nice, …………………… voice and I enjoyed listening to her.
- My boyfriend’s parents’ house is a mess. Every single table is covered with ……….!
- Enough ……………………. from me; let’s get on with the meeting!
- I hated the moneyed, ………………………. inhabitants of the island
Oh, do you want to check your answers?
Great! You can watch the Facebook Live Lesson with Suzanne and compare your answers to the ones she and her students discussed during their session.
Reduplication, as you might have figured out, refers to expressions like bye-bye, choo-choo, and Nae Nae. Ablaut reduplication happens when the interior vowels of a word are altered in repetition, like in : tick-tock, riffraff or spit-spot. So?
bye-bye: All the the word is duplicated (reduplication)
tick-tock: All the word EXCEPT the interior vowel is duplicated (ablaut reduplication)
Nearly every example of ablaut reduplication within the English language follows the same pattern. The rule is:
“If there are three words then the order has to go I, A, O. If there are two words then the first is I and the second is either A or O.
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