Turkish reduplicative adjectives and adverbs

Abstract

This research examines a partial (emphatic) reduplication process in Turkish that forms intensified adjectives/adverbs with one of four linkers m, p, r, and s (e.g., bem.bejaz, ip.iri). This study goes beyond earlier works by investigating the responses of native Turkish speakers to intensifying nonce words without limiting them about the choice of linkers. The results indicate although this reduplication process is influenced by phonology, the selection of linkers is lexically determined in existing Turkish adjectives/adverbs. With nonce words, native speakers appear to adopt secondary strategies that include using a linker copied from the base, omitting a linker, and dissimilation of the linker and the initial consonant of a C-initial base.