Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2024 April 11

= April 11 =

Turkish m-doublets
Is there a general name for the process of creating words like "çocuk mocuk", "para mara", "kitap mitap", "adam madam", "eski meski", etc. in Turkish? (more details here, it's word + m- + [remove first consonant] + word) Does it exist in other languages? a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 08:20, 11 April 2024 (UTC)


 * See Shm-reduplication and Echo word. --147.142.246.75 (talk) 08:25, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Or maybe Reduplication. Alansplodge (talk) 09:51, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot! a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 10:50, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Also found in informal Modern Greek, e.g. ταψιά μαψιά (tapsiá mapsiá) "oven pans and such". As in Turkish, this echo reduplication can also be used with verbs: γκρίνιαζες μίνιαζες (gríniazes míniazes) "you whined and such". It seems likely that the feature, also using the ⟨m-⟩ substitution, was borrowed from Turkish. --Lambiam 15:27, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I didn't know that Greek used ταψί (Turkish tepsi). Is this echo replication structure also used in other Turkic languages? a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 18:49, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Azerbaijani does, for example "böcək möcək". --Lambiam 01:26, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Just heard DJ MJ [diːdʒeɪ miːdʒeɪ] so it can really be used with any word... a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 08:53, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I guess it would be spelled "meejay" or similar in English, though. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 12:54, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, it can be used with any word mord :) not already starting with ⟨m-⟩ (so you cannot use this with "muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine"). For example, one can also use "hayır mayır" and "yok mok" when reporting implicit denials. --Lambiam 14:09, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
 * What about words already starting with m-? I can initially imagine a "triduplicated" form like "m- mem-", although such forms might not be used in practice. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 15:10, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The feature is simply not available. Using "lacivert" for the colour (navy) blue, you can say "lacivert macivert". But when using the less specific colour name "mavi" for blue and you want to say "blue or such", you have to say something like "mavi falan filan". Or you can say "mavimtrak", using a suffix "-mtrak" meaning as much as "-ish". --Lambiam 14:53, 13 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Is there any difference between "mavimtırak" and "mavimsi" btw? a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 15:40, 13 April 2024 (UTC)
 * As far as I'm aware they are interchangeable, and both are fairly common. I'm not a native speaker, though. --Lambiam 21:49, 13 April 2024 (UTC)