【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 N DefinitionReduplication, as a special lexical phenomenon and a monly used rhetorical device of languages, refers to “the repetition of a syllable, a morpheme, or a word” (Richards, 1998:389). The similar explanation can also be seen in the Linguistic Dictionary of English, “reduplication is a pattern where the double or multiple occurrence of a sound string, syllable, morpheme, or word within a larger syntagmatic unit”. The creation of new words through reduplication mainly depends on affixing a copy of all or part of the base word. According to Chen Hongwei, Chinese reduplication is the reduplicated use of two words with the same sound, form and meaning so as to increase the vividness of language (Chen Hongwei, 1997:107). Compared with English, Chinese reduplication has an extensive and frequent application in both oral and written forms. Just as Professor Wang Li puts it, “An extensive use of Chinese reduplicated words to denote various meanings is a distinctive feature of Chinese”(Wang Li, 1984:36). Origin of reduplication From the perspective of history, human beings have gone through a history of recognizing nature and changing nature, thus promoting the progress of society. The emergence of newborn things and phenomenon results in new experience and new viewpoints, which requires new phonetic forms to achieve better expressions. Such a great need directly gives rise to the birth of reduplication. On one hand, the application of reduplication boosts the development of linguistics and lexics。 on the other hand, social environment provides a large scope for the birth of various reduplicated words. From the language aspect, due to the specific characteristics of its sounds and words, the use of reduplication tends to be more frequent in Chinese than any other language. Chinese belongs to SineTibet family with most of its words single syllable. ., one word represents one syllable, which is prone to make reduplication. In addition, the beauty of balance is a distinctive feature of Chinese with antithesis a typical example. Consequently, a monosyllabic word is usually connected with a monosyllabic one while a disyllabic word with a disyllabic one in Chinese, which sounds rhythmical and writes symmetrical and smooth. Such a feature makes reduplication naturally e into being.From the perspective of its application in literature works, reduplication has been universally adopted in many literature works throughout history till today. In Chinese it has its very origin in Shijing and acquires quite good artistic effect. Take the following text from it as an example: (1) 惜我往矣，楊柳依依。今我來思，雨雪霏霏。行道遲遲，載饑載渴。我心傷悲, 莫知我哀。When me left homeThe willows were softly swaying。Now as we turn backSnowflakes fly.Our road is a long oneAnd we thirst and hunger,Our hearts are filled with sorrow。But who knows our misery? (Translated by Yang Xianyi)The above eight lines are the last two stanzas from “采薇”(We Gather Vetch), in which there are in all four reduplicated words(依依,霏霏, 遲遲,載饑載渴). Such kind of word formation in Chinese not only makes the lines more readable and structurally symmetrical, but also gives the words new sense and emotion. The above example also fully shows the long history of its application. Variations of reduplicationIn modern literature, reduplication is adopted in a broader way with its forms diversified. However, pared with a single word, reduplicated words usually vary in both part of speech and meaning. Such variations make the expressions accurate and flexible. What is more, the variations of reduplication make the sentence patterns more diversified. Variations of part of speechGenerally speaking, single verbs usually change into adjectives or adverbs after being reduplicated in the form of “AABB”. For example, the verbs “吞” and “吐” in Chinese, after being reduplicated as “吞吞吐吐”, may be used as adjectives such as “他十分討厭吞吞吐吐的人?！?There are many such words in language application such as “勾勾搭搭”, “恭恭敬敬” and “偷偷摸摸”. Take a look at the following sentences:(2) 她十分討厭拖拖拉拉的孩子。(3) 來來往往的人把整個商場擠得滿滿的。(4) 看他偷偷摸摸的樣就知道他不是好人。Another case is that reduplicated adjectives or adverbs may change into verbs in the form of “ABAB”. For example, “痛快” in Chinese is definitely used as an adverb such as “喝個痛快”, but when reduplicated in the form of “ABAB” (痛快痛快), it is used as a verb, such as “難得相聚，大家都痛快痛快?！?More examples are provided below:(5) 放寒假了，同學(xué)們?yōu)t灑瀟灑一番。(6) 待會兒人齊了，大家伙都高興高興。(7) 為了取得最后的勝利，戰(zhàn)士們都辛苦辛苦。 Variations of meaningChinese words, after being reduplicated, usually vary in meaning. Such variations of meaning include three aspects: meaning augment, meaning strengthening and meaning weakening.Meaning augment: Reduplicated nouns and quantifiers tend to increase their original meanings such as “個個”, “件件”, “人人”, “天天”. Compared with “個”, “件”, “人” and “天”, reduplication endows the words with new meanings of “many(much)” or “every”.Meaning strengthening: “Chinese reduplication functions as a way of highlighting the clou, deepening the emotion, strengthening the rhythm and increasing the beauty of phonology”(Chen Hongwei, 1998:107). Reduplicated adjectives, adverbs and quantifiers, can strengthen the meaning and deepen the extent such as “酸酸(的)”, “剛剛”, “一步一步”. Reduplicated verbs in the form of “A阿（呀）A”, “A著A著”, “” or “A里AC” or “ABAB” as adjectives or adverbs also have the abovementioned effect such as “笑阿笑”, “跑著跑著”, “糊里糊涂” or “兢兢業(yè)業(yè)”. Such a variation of reduplication makes the expressions more precise. (8) 愛情在他們心里噗噗地跳。 Love pitapatted in their heart.(9) 他走著走著忽然想起剛才的事來。 He was walking when he thought of what had just happened.Meaning weakening is mainly realized by the reduplication of verbs, which makes the tones mild and euphemistic. Especially when verbs are reduplicated in the form of “ABA” and “ABAB”, the degree of its original meaning weakens to denote oneoff or tentative actions such as “問一問”, “想一想”, “聊一聊”, “嘗試嘗試”, “考慮考慮”