They had had to find a way to talk about this in other languages.
January 21, 2022 7:51 PM Subscribe
Curious about instances in where the same word occurs is used consecutively. Doesn't have to be the same use-case as "have" is used here. Is this a weird unique English thing or does it crop up in other languages too? What languages/tenses?
Read your question a few times and don't really know what you're asking.
Do you mean sentences that contain the same word consecutively where the word means different things, like "He drew Drew"?
posted by dobbs at 8:03 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Do you mean sentences that contain the same word consecutively where the word means different things, like "He drew Drew"?
posted by dobbs at 8:03 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
In German "she," and some forms of "her" and "they" (sie) could certainly appear one after the other.
posted by oxisos at 8:10 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by oxisos at 8:10 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
The double copula might be an example? "What my point is is that..."
posted by theory at 8:11 PM on January 21, 2022
posted by theory at 8:11 PM on January 21, 2022
And I think the double copula would in some cases be a form of contrastive focus reduplication "I like them, but I don't like like them."
posted by theory at 8:18 PM on January 21, 2022
posted by theory at 8:18 PM on January 21, 2022
Buffalo means
- a city in New York State
- a cow-like animal, singular
- a cow-like animal, plural
- to bully
So Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
(New York State cows bully New York State cows)
Or-
Who police the police?
Police-police police police.
Well, who police police-police?
Police-police-police police police-police.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:22 PM on January 21, 2022 [5 favorites]
- a city in New York State
- a cow-like animal, singular
- a cow-like animal, plural
- to bully
So Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
(New York State cows bully New York State cows)
Or-
Who police the police?
Police-police police police.
Well, who police police-police?
Police-police-police police police-police.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:22 PM on January 21, 2022 [5 favorites]
In Spanish ‘que que’ can be used (roughly, that that), so ‘por lo que que’ would be ‘then, that’. I think a similar arrangement works in French
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:13 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:13 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
(New York State cows bully New York State cows)
who then spread the abuse around within the same target group: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.
posted by flabdablet at 9:41 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
who then spread the abuse around within the same target group: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.
posted by flabdablet at 9:41 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
niwa ni wa niwa niwatori ga iru. “There are two chickens in the garden.”
Only works in romaji (latin alphabet style). Japanese onomatopoeia is crammed full of 'words' repeated twice. Think 'pika pika', or 'goro goro', 'mofu mofu', 'zaku zaku', 'doki doki'.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:55 PM on January 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
Only works in romaji (latin alphabet style). Japanese onomatopoeia is crammed full of 'words' repeated twice. Think 'pika pika', or 'goro goro', 'mofu mofu', 'zaku zaku', 'doki doki'.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:55 PM on January 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wenn Sie sie sehen, grüßen Sie sie bitte von mir!
When you see her (polite you) greet her from me please.
posted by M. at 9:58 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
When you see her (polite you) greet her from me please.
posted by M. at 9:58 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
In Malay and Indonesian, doubling the word makes it plural eg. jalan = street, jalan-jalan = streets
posted by ryanbryan at 10:19 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by ryanbryan at 10:19 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
John, where James had had "had", had had "had had". "Had had" had had the teacher's approval.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:32 PM on January 21, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:32 PM on January 21, 2022 [5 favorites]
In French, chouchou/chouchoute is a term of endearment. The word chou translates to the word "cabbage".
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:49 PM on January 21, 2022
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:49 PM on January 21, 2022
"Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach" is a popular German tonguetwister.
(When flies fly behind flies, flies follow-in-a-flying-manner flies)
posted by Omnomnom at 11:36 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
(When flies fly behind flies, flies follow-in-a-flying-manner flies)
posted by Omnomnom at 11:36 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Grammatically, any English sentence that is composed like "when noun verbs, noun verbs" will translate into "when noun verbs, verbs noun" in German.
"When I eat, I eat" --> "Wenn ich esse, esse ich"
This is also the case for "if", "as", Because" etc.
posted by Omnomnom at 11:42 PM on January 21, 2022
"When I eat, I eat" --> "Wenn ich esse, esse ich"
This is also the case for "if", "as", Because" etc.
posted by Omnomnom at 11:42 PM on January 21, 2022
I'm thinking of French reflexive verbs:
Vous vous appelez, nous nous appelons...
posted by iamsuper at 1:21 AM on January 22, 2022
Vous vous appelez, nous nous appelons...
posted by iamsuper at 1:21 AM on January 22, 2022
In Danish, an exchange between father and son…
Far, får får får?
Nej, får får ikke får, får får lam.
“Far” means father/dad and “får” can man “sheep”or “get”.
So the text above means, “Dad, do sheep get sheep?”, “No, sheep don’t get sheep, sheep get lambs”
posted by jonesor at 1:23 AM on January 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
Far, får får får?
Nej, får får ikke får, får får lam.
“Far” means father/dad and “får” can man “sheep”or “get”.
So the text above means, “Dad, do sheep get sheep?”, “No, sheep don’t get sheep, sheep get lambs”
posted by jonesor at 1:23 AM on January 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Finnish: "Voi-voi, voi voi sulaa" means "uh-oh, the butter could melt". "Voi" is an expression of dismay, the noun "butter", and a modal verb indicating possibility.
posted by jackbishop at 1:35 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 1:35 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Adverbs can be repeated in Italian to be doubled for effect:
Poco poco to mean just a tiny bit.
Piano piano to mean really soft, really slow.
Appena appena to mean faintly, barely.
posted by ellieBOA at 1:45 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Poco poco to mean just a tiny bit.
Piano piano to mean really soft, really slow.
Appena appena to mean faintly, barely.
posted by ellieBOA at 1:45 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: We do do strange things in English sometimes. (Is this the kind of thing you mean?)
I turned it on on Monday.
They turned themselves in in a fit of insanity.
Not exactly the same, but getting your head around "q'est-ce que c'est" is an interesting introduction to French.
posted by trig at 3:21 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
I turned it on on Monday.
They turned themselves in in a fit of insanity.
Not exactly the same, but getting your head around "q'est-ce que c'est" is an interesting introduction to French.
posted by trig at 3:21 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Yep, those are the kinds of things I’m thinking of in English, trig.
posted by curious nu at 5:33 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by curious nu at 5:33 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't want this. It's that that I want.
posted by mono blanco at 5:41 AM on January 22, 2022
posted by mono blanco at 5:41 AM on January 22, 2022
Before I had a cat, I had had a dog.
posted by mono blanco at 5:41 AM on January 22, 2022
posted by mono blanco at 5:41 AM on January 22, 2022
I will use my superpowers to create an ice cream cone. I will will it into being!
posted by mono blanco at 5:43 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mono blanco at 5:43 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: In Malay and Indonesian, doubling the word makes it plural eg. jalan = street, jalan-jalan = streets
Not only. Even in that example it can also turn a single verb into a continuous activity (jalan-jalan as it is would be understood as going walking or sightseeing as well, in fact more commonly understood as such with how it usually pops up), or a longer sense of time. Doubling can also indicate that it's a ersatz version of something e.g langit-langit (sky2) in some dialects can mean the ceiling or the roof of your mouth. But doubling here doesn't mean two words, it's still one word. The repeats as you are asking doesn't really occur typically, unless in vernacular speech.
So for Malay (not Indonesian - in vernacular speech we've developed significant divergence), here's a possible example: dah dah, dah lah tu. All of that dah is a contraction of sudah and means 'done' or 'that's it/all' or 'stop' and basically means 'there there, enough already'.
posted by cendawanita at 5:47 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Not only. Even in that example it can also turn a single verb into a continuous activity (jalan-jalan as it is would be understood as going walking or sightseeing as well, in fact more commonly understood as such with how it usually pops up), or a longer sense of time. Doubling can also indicate that it's a ersatz version of something e.g langit-langit (sky2) in some dialects can mean the ceiling or the roof of your mouth. But doubling here doesn't mean two words, it's still one word. The repeats as you are asking doesn't really occur typically, unless in vernacular speech.
So for Malay (not Indonesian - in vernacular speech we've developed significant divergence), here's a possible example: dah dah, dah lah tu. All of that dah is a contraction of sudah and means 'done' or 'that's it/all' or 'stop' and basically means 'there there, enough already'.
posted by cendawanita at 5:47 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Note to answerers: OP is looking for examples of this in other languages, not more examples in English!
posted by penguin pie at 5:56 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by penguin pie at 5:56 AM on January 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Reduplication, which Vietnamese does often to intensify
posted by eyeball at 5:56 AM on January 22, 2022
posted by eyeball at 5:56 AM on January 22, 2022
You might find Lisa deMena Travis' papers and the citations to and from them interesting. For example, this one. (It includes quite a bit of jargon, but I know nothing about linguistics and remember enjoying it.)
posted by eotvos at 6:27 AM on January 22, 2022
posted by eotvos at 6:27 AM on January 22, 2022
"Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den" (Chinese: 施氏食獅史; pinyin: Shī-shì shí shī shǐ) is a short narrative poem written in Classical Chinese that is composed of about 94 characters (depending on the specific version) in which every word is pronounced shi ([ʂɻ̩]) when read in present-day Standard Mandarin, with only the tones differing.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
In some creoles, you double words, usually as an intensifier. So instead of "very" (e.g., "it was very big"), you would double the word (e.g., "it was big big"). Here are examples from the Caribbean that breaks out the various ways reduplication is used, including intensification; the same phenomenon occurs in other creoles/pidgins as well, like Krio.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:34 AM on January 22, 2022
posted by Dip Flash at 7:34 AM on January 22, 2022
Following up on my FInnish comment, this comic proposes the conversation
"Voiko voi voittaa voin?" (Can butter beat butter?)
"Voi voi!" (For sure!)
"Valion voi voi." (Valio's butter can.)
posted by jackbishop at 8:01 AM on January 22, 2022
"Voiko voi voittaa voin?" (Can butter beat butter?)
"Voi voi!" (For sure!)
"Valion voi voi." (Valio's butter can.)
posted by jackbishop at 8:01 AM on January 22, 2022
In Greek doubling up happens as an intensifier in informal speech - e.g. πάνω is up, πάνω πάνω is on the very top, γύρω is around, γύρω γύρω is all around.
posted by each day we work at 12:13 PM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by each day we work at 12:13 PM on January 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
In Catalan:
En cap cap de cap cap cap que Déu deu deu euros
Which means: In no head of no boss fits [the fact] that God owes ten euros
posted by gregjones at 12:55 AM on January 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
En cap cap de cap cap cap que Déu deu deu euros
Which means: In no head of no boss fits [the fact] that God owes ten euros
posted by gregjones at 12:55 AM on January 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
In Spanish, "¿Cómo "¿cómo como?"? ¡Como como como!" means "What do you mean about "How do I eat?"? I eat the way I eat!".
posted by sukeban at 7:54 AM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by sukeban at 7:54 AM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by curious nu at 7:58 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]