Zaal Kikvidze
Papers of BAS. Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 5, 2018, No. 2
Copying direction as a factor in the classification system
of Kartvelian echo-word constructions
Zaal Kikvidze
Abstract. The paper deals with Base/Reduplicant relationship in Kartvelian (South Caucasian) echo-word constructions as a determining condition in their classification with special reference to copying direction. Base/Reduplicant relationship is pivotal in reduplicative processes because a resulting entity is built of the Base and the Reduplicant. Hence, two types of echo reduplication are identified: Type 1 - L > R (Base-initial) and Type 2 - R > L (Reduplicant-initial). The data from the Kartvelian languages have highlighted the necessity of subdivision of echo-pairs into different types. The classification pattern, adhered to in the present paper, may be applied to similar phenomena cross-linguistically, provided that various types and/or sub-types occur in a language.
Keywords: echo reduplication, Kartvelian languages, Base/Reduplicant relationship, copying direction