Functions of reduplication in Bahasa Malaysia

Reduplication is a common morphological device widely used in Bahasa Malaysia (BM). According to Tham (1990), the process of duplication is used “to either create derivative meanings or extend the meaning of a linguistic category by connotation.” In BM, almost all linguistic categories can be duplicated, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals and particles.

*In this analysis, the use of suffixes [me], [be] and [ter] is treated as carrying more weight in terms of grammar function than meaning.

There are two reduplication patterns in Bahasa Malaysia:

1.  Total/stem reduplication

For example:  kuda becomes kuda-kuda

2.  Partial reduplication

For example: terang becomes terang-benderang

Reduplication serves several functions in BM (the following functions and examples are not exhaustive):

1.  To show plurality

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
rumah	a house	rumah-rumah	houses
jari	a finger	jari-jemari	all fingers
pokok	a tree	pokok-pokok	trees
buku	a book	buku-buku	books

2.  To create new words

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
awak	informal, second person pronoun “you”	awak-awak	sailors, crew of a fishing vessel
pura	city, town or state	pura-pura	pretending (to deceive)
agar	so that	agar-agar	jelly

3. To show conceptual similarity

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
langit	sky	langit-langit	the ceiling or palate
jari	fingers	jari-jari	spoke, radius or bar
suka	to like	suka-suka	aimless or meaningless fun
orang	people	orang-orang	scarecrows
jalan	to walk	jalan- jalan	sightseeing

4. To show continuous action

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
pukul	to hit	memukul-mukul	to hit continuously
cari	to search	mencari-cari	to search continuosly
cakar	to claw	mencakar-cakar	to claw continuously
tulis	to write	menulis-nulis	to write continuously
lalu	to pass by	lalu-lalang	passing by in both directions (usually high traffic)

5. To show intensification of action

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
tunggu	to wait	menunggu-nunggu	to wait for a long time
panggil	to call	memanggil-manggil	to call for a long time
goyang	to shake	menggoyang-goyang	to shake continuously to no avail
kejar	to chase	terkejar-kejar	to chase continuously to no avail

6.  To show aimlessness of action

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
esak	to sob	teresak-esak	to sob aimlessly
tanya	to ask	tertanya-tanya	to ask aimlessly
lari	to run	terlari-lari	to run aimlessly
raba	to touch (with palm)	meraba-raba	to touch or feel  aimlessless (in the dark)

7. To show reciprocity

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
gaduh	to quarrel	bergaduh-gaduh	to quarrel with each other
lumba	to race	berlumba-lumba	to race with each other
sahut	to respond to a call	bersahut-sahutan	to respond to each other’s calls
tolak	to push	tolak-menolak	to push each other
tendang	to kick	tendang-menendang	to kick each other

8. To show variety

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
masak	to cook	masak-memasak	all sorts of cooking
jual	to sell	jual-menjual	selling in general
jahit	to sew	jahit-menjahit	all sorts of sewing
potong	to cut	potong-memotong	all sorts of cutting

9. To show inter-connectedness

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
dua	two	dua-dua	both
lima	five	lima-lima	all five

10. To show indefiniteness

For example: 

Base word	Meaning	Reduplicant	Meaning
mana	where	mana-mana	wherever
bila	when	bila-bila	whenever
lama	long (time)	lama-lama	eventually; sooner or later
lain	others	lain-lain	everything else

References and some examples are from:

Tham  S.C. (1990). A Study of the Evolution of the Malay Language: Social change and cognitive development. Singapore: NUS

Reduplication. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication.