Universal #691

Legacy number: 691

 Number  688
 Original  In exclusively prefixing languages, if symmetrical reduplicative compounds exist, they will be overwhelmingly of the alliterative type.
 Standardized  IF bound morphology is exclusively or predominantly prefixing, THEN symmetrical reduplicative compounds (provided such complex forms exist) will be overwhelmingly alliterative rather than rhyming or ablauting.
 Keywords  compounds, affix, prefix, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, iambic
 Domain  morphology, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  Southeast Asian lgs, esp. Khmer and Thai (exclusively prefixing) and Hmong and Vietnamese (perhaps incipiently prefixing)
 Source  Ourn & Haiman 2000: 498

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Discussion
Notes
1. symmetrical reduplicative compounds, aka binomial coordinate compounds, akairreversible binomials, aka natural coordinations.Formal marking:(a) rhyme: identity at right margin (e.g. English ‘hum drum’);(b) vocalic ablaut: identity at right and left margins (e.g. English ‘sing song’);(c) alliteration: identity at left margin (e.g. English ‘spic and span’, also German: ‘Kind und Kegel’, ‘Haus und Hof’, ‘Mann und Maus’).2. Explanation, or rather generalization:prefixing languages are iambic, i.e. WEAK (backgrounded, low information content before STRONG (salient, highlighted, focused, high information content):weak (prefix) + strong (root),strong (root) + weak (suffix);in parallel structures, identical material is weak and non-identical material strong;hence: Identical + DIFFERENT, i.e. alliterative structures.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. SYMMETRICAL REDUPLICATIVE COMPOUNDS, aka binomial coordinate compounds, aka irreversible binomials, aka natural coordinations. Formal marking:
<table class="textTable">
<tr>
<td>(a) rhyme:</td>
<td>identity at right margin (e.g. English 'hum drum');</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>(b) vocalic ablaut:</td>
<td> identity at right and left margins (e.g. English 'sing song');</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> (c) alliteration:</td>
<td> identity at left margin (e.g. English 'spic and span', also German: 'Kind und Kegel', 'Haus und Hof', 'Mann und Maus').</td>
</tr>
</table>


2. Explanation, or rather generalization: prefixing languages are iambic, i.e. WEAK (backgrounded, low information content before STRONG (salient, highlighted, focused, high information content):
weak (prefix) + strong (root),
strong (root) + weak (suffix);
in parallel structures, identical material is weak and non-identical material strong;
hence: Identical + DIFFERENT, i.e. alliterative structures.