Abstract
Reduplication has been the focus of numerous studies in recent years, with many articles and edited volumes devoted to the topic. Descriptions of under-documented languages frequently include a section on reduplicated constructions and their values. Among the Atlantic languages spoken in Senegal (such as Wolof, Joola, Noon, Seereer, and Mandinka) reduplication is highly productive, occurring across most syntactic categories and fulfilling several distinct functions. This paper analyzes the reduplication process in a number of these languages. We show that simple nouns can undergo total reduplication, whereby a compound noun is derived from a simple noun through total reduplication. In certain contexts, this compounding process serves as a means of constructing the identity of an entity or a person. Our aim is to demonstrate that, beyond the identity relation observed between the base and its copy, reduplicated constructions constitute a particularly effective means of constructing identity: the core properties embodied by a single element are reinforced by its duplicate. This analysis is conducted within the framework of the Theory of Predicative and Enunciative Operations (Culioli 1990, 2018; Paillard 1992), drawing on specific theoretical concepts such as location, notion, and notional domain. The juxtaposition of the base and its copy can be interpreted as the trace of an identification-marking operation.
For example in Wolof :
Kajoor kajoor la.a xam.u ma ndox
Cayor red emph.1sg know. neg 1sg water
I am a native of Cayor, I don’t know water (i.e the sea or ocean). (in other words, I cannot swim.)
The simple form “Kajoor” refers exclusively to the designated place, as it is a toponym. Reduplication here serves as a means of constructing the identity of the people native to that place: an “identification” is established between a location and a person. Indeed, the properties of the place are embodied in “Kajoor-Kajoor,” so that when someone is described as “kajoor-kajoor,” this amounts to saying that he “is nothing but Kajoor”: his identity becomes indistinguishable from “Kajoor” — that is, “he is what he is because all the properties of Kajoor are found in him.”
