Getting your words just right
Please raise your hand if you know what ablaut reduplication means. Even though we can’t see them, we’re confident most of your hands didn’t move.
Ablaut reduplication is a little-known rule about the order of vowels in two- or three-word phrases such as chit chat, bric-a-brac or big bad wolf.
A mid-19th century Germanic word, ablaut refers to words that change form when a vowel is shifted. Reduplication originated in the late 16th century from the Latin word, reduplicat- ‘doubled again.’ Translation: word phrases that repeat or copy and form a similar kind of word that suggests a ‘to and from motion,’ or a changing state from one form or another such as tick tock.
The vowels involved are A, I, and O, and the rule is that for three-word phrases, the letter “I” is always first followed by A and then O. For two-word phrases, the “I” remains first with either an A or O in the second word. Without the rule, the main character in The Three Little Pigs might have been called the “bad big wolf,” and rather than calling casual conversation “chit chat,” we could have been referring to it as “chat chit.” Just doesn’t sound right, does it?
If you are selling a healthcare product or service, which sounds better?
Simple, safe, cost-effective
OR
Safe, cost effective, simple
Exactly!
So, how about a show of hands if you like today’s word lesson on ablaut reduplication?