Reduplication in Verb Phrases

动词重叠

Youxuan Wang

University of Leeds

25 January 2012

1. Verb-object phrases in which the verb is monosyllabic

In all verb-object phrases, we can reduplicate the first character (or syllable when heard in speech), and thus turn an AB structure into an AAB structure, e.g.:

玩游戏   wányóuxì	玩玩游戏        to play games
唱歌    chàngge	唱唱歌            to sing
写字    xiězì	写写字            to write character
喝酒    hējǐu	喝喝酒            to dring (alcohol)
聊天    liáotiān	聊聊天            to chat
跑步    pǎobù	跑跑步            to jog
打球    dǎqiú	打打球            to play ball games
看电视 kàndiànshì	看看电视        to watch TV
弹钢琴 tán gāngqín	弹弹钢琴        to  play the piano
听音乐 tīng yīnyuè	听听音乐        to listen to music

In the above examples, the first syllable is a verb, and the characters that follow the verb are a noun.

2. Multi-syllabic verbs in which all characters are morphemes of the same word

In the following examples, the second character (or syllable when heard in speech) is not a noun, but a morpheme as part of the same disyllabic verb. In colloquial Chinese, the first syllable can also be reduplicated, e.g.:

跳舞   tiàowǔ	跳跳舞       to dance
走路   zǒulù	走走路       to walk
跑步   pǎobù	跑跑步       to jog
游泳   yóuyǒng	游游泳       to swim

Some grammarians classify this particular group of verbs as clutch-words (líhécí 离合词）, or words which can be set apart with an additional word embedded in  between, and then brought together again by removing the embedded element.

With regard to the above two classes of verbs to which reduplication can be applied, what is essential is to understand the changes that this practice will bring to your writing or speech.

                  

3. Stylistic effects:  

Reduplications can have the stylistic effects of being: (a) informal, as they are generally used in everyday conversation or in writings in which a colloquial style is preferable; and (b) rhythmical, as the repetition of a word in the phrase creates a sense of rhythm in sound, and hence, it is frequently used in colloquial Chinese.                

                  

Examples:

-- 平时，你吃完晚饭干什么？What do you normally do after supper?

-- 不干什么特别的事。有时看看电视，有时弹弹钢琴，有时听听音乐。玩玩而已。Nothing special. Sometimes, I just watch TV. Sometimes, I just play the piano. And sometimes I just listen to music. Just for fun.

-- 今天晚上礼堂有舞会。我们一起去跳跳舞吧。玩玩儿病就好了。There will be a dancing party in the auditorium this evening. Shall we go to dance? You will feel better if we have a bit of fun.

4. Semantic implication:

A verb reduplicated gets weakened.

Some grammarians treat this practice of doubling a verb as a method of morphologically expressing a short-duration tense: by repeating the verb element in the verb phrase, we get a verb in the short-duration tense （短时时态）, or a verb that denotes an action that does not last very long. Such actions are normally carried out quickly, in leisure, or in a relaxed manner. For example, when you want to 'read a few pages of a novel for about 10 minutes before going to bed', you may say '上床之后，我总要花十来分钟读读小说'. Here, the action of dú 读 is not business-like, and it does not last long.

5. Don't quantify the Object of the reduplicated verb:

In Chinese, a noun is quantified when it is preceded by a number and a measure word (e.g., 一个、一本、一斤、一张 etc.) . Thus, from an unquantified noun (such as 人，书，苹果，纸), we can derive a quantified noun phrase (such as 一个人，一本书，两斤苹果，一张纸). However, this type of quantified noun phrases do not typically co-occur with the reduplicated verbs. For instance, we can say:

(a)  我 想 读读 书。 (We would like to read a book for a little while.)

(b) 高兴的时候，我 有时 会 唱唱 歌。 (When in a good mood, I would sometimes do a bit of singing.)

Yet, we do not say:

(c)  我 想 读读 一本书。 (We would like to read a book for a little while.)

(d) 高兴的时候，我 有时 会 唱唱 几首 歌。 (When in a good mood, I would sometimes sing casually a few songs.)

Exercises:

(1) Use each of the ten pairs of verbs in the above table to make a sentence, showing a good sense of the stylistic nuances.

(2) Read the following list of verbs and examples of their reduplication. (a) Try to understand the stylistic and semantic difference that reduplication has brought to the sentences. (b) For each of the verbs, provide your own collocational partners and/or sentences.

	Verb		Doubling	Collocational partners: nouns.
xiě	写	to write	写写	字：我每晚都要写写字。
jiāo	浇	to water (a plant)	浇浇	水：早晨，我会给花儿浇浇水。
chàng	唱	to sing	唱唱	歌：我们高兴的时候就会唱唱歌。
tiào	跳	to jump; to leap.	跳跳	舞：我们有时出去与朋友们一起跳跳舞。
pǎo	跑	to run	跑跑	步：每天跑跑步，身体就会健康。
dú	读	to read	读读	报纸：晚饭后，我一般要读读报。
hē	喝	to drink	喝喝	茶：我们出去喝喝茶好吗？
kàn	看	to look at	看看	电视：我吃完晚饭后，一般要看看电视。
tīng	听	to listen to	听听	广播：我吃早饭的时候，有时会同时听听广播。
cháng	尝	to taste	尝尝	菜：这是你做的菜吗？让我来尝尝你做的菜。

(3) Correct the errors in the following sentences:

a	你们 要 写写 一些字吗？
b	我们跳跳一会舞。
c	晚饭后，我们要唱唱几首歌。
d	我想 喝喝 一点 咖啡。
e	睡觉前，我会读读几页小说。