Words are constructions, too: A construction-based approach to English ablaut reduplication
-
Jeroen van de Weijer
,
Weiyun Wei
Abstract
In this article we present a new approach to words of the type zigzag, chitchat, etc. in English. Such words form a formal (phonological) and functional (semantic) pattern in English. We argue that this pattern should be analysed in a construction-based approach, which has clear advantages over other approaches, e.g. analyses involving extragrammaticality or a synchronically productive reduplication process. We propose to extend the construction-based approach beyond its original scope (syntactic constructions) to words that may even no longer be morphologically complex. Finally, we make a tentative suggestion about how the difference between productive and unproductive patterns could be captured in the construction-based approach.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Geert Booij, Marjoleine Sloos and three anonymous Linguistics reviewers for comments on a previous draft of this paper, as well audiences at Shanghai International Studies University, Shenzhen University and Jinan University for comments on presentations of parts of this work. All errors are our own.
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Appendix
Forms with the /ɪ-æ/ pattern, sorted alphabetically (only included are words for which we found an established age of introduction in OED, and/or frequency > 0 in either COCA and/or BNC[17], and/or a Google Ngram) for some forms for which there is a Google Ngram but no other sources, no meaning could be found.
| Word | Word class | Meaning ([…]: notes on alternative spellings) | Etymology (date) | Frequency COCA | Frequency BCN | Ngram available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bibble-babble | N/V | N. idle or empty talk; prating. (very common in 16th c.)/V. trans. and intr. to indulge in bibble-babble or idle talk; to babble. | 1532/1888 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| bing-bang | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| bingle-bangle | ADJ | dial. fickle, vacillating, irresolute | 1825 | 0 | 0 | No |
| bribble-brabble | N | Obs. vain chatter or wrangling | 1665 | 0 | 0 | No |
| brittle-brattle | N | Obs. rare. a sharp rattling sound | 1535 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| chick-chack | 1 | 0 | Yes | |||
| chiff-chaff | N | a bird, also called Lesser Pettychaps (Phylloscopus rufus) | 1780 | 7 | 12 | Yes |
| chik-chak | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| chit-chat | N/V | N. 1. light chat; light familiar conversation. 2. matter of current gossip or common small talk; what people are talking about. 3. attrib./V. intr. to gossip [also chitchat] | 1710/1821 | 436 | 46 | Yes |
| chitter-chatter | N/V | N. =chatter, the chattering of certain birds; also of apes;/V= chatter. Of human beings (of birds): to talk rapidly, incessantly, and with more sound than sense. Esp. said of children; but often applied vituperatively to speech which one does not like. Also said of apes and other animals whose voice suggests human chattering. | 1712 | 2 | 2 | Yes |
| click-clack | N/V | N.1. a combination or pattern of thinner, higher click sounds and deeper, more resonant clack sounds. 2. Idle or trivial chatter. now rare./V. intr. to make a combination or succession of thinner, higher click sounds and deeper, more resonant clack sounds. Frequently with adverbial, esp. with reference to footsteps. | 1660/1778 | 34 | 4 | Yes |
| cling-clang | N | ringing | 1578 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| clink-clank | N/V | N. a succession of alternation of clinking sounds; fig. a senseless jingle of words./V. intr. to make a clink-clank sound | 1679/1921 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| clinkum-clankum | N | =clink clank n., or expressing a trochaic variety of the same sound. | 1605 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| clipper-clapper | ADJ | of the nature of a clapper that goes quickly. | 1837 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| clish-clash | N | 1. the reciprocal or alternate clash of weapons, hence to go clish-clash. Also in extended use. 2. Sc. idle gossip, scandal. Also attrib. | 1597 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| clitter-clatter | N | alternating repetition of clattering noise; garrulous talk, tittle-tattle | 1535 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| crick-crack | N/INT/ ADV/V | N. a repeated sharp cracking sound./Int. representing a repeated sharp cracking sound./Adv. with a sharp, cracking sound./V. now rare. intr. to emit a repeated sharp cracking sound. | 1600/1850 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
| crickle-crackle | N | a repeated crackling sound | 1637 | 1 | 0 | No |
| cringle-crangle | N/ADJ (and ADV) | Obs. (Eng. regional (north.) in later use). N. a zigzag; a mass of twists and turns./Adj. (and Adv.) winding in and out; having twists and turns; twisted | 1573 | 0 | 0 | No |
| crinkle-crankle | N/ADJ/ ADV | N. a winding in and out, a zigzag. also (as a mass noun): sinuosity; intricacy, complexity; convolution. Now rare./Adj(Adv). twisting in and out, zigzag; sinuous, serpentine; intricate; convoluted. Also as adv. (now rare). | 1598 | 1 | 5 | Yes |
| crinkley-crankley | ADJ | colloq. crooked, twisted; crumpled; (also) winding in and out, zigzagging | 1850 | 0 | 0 | No |
| crinkum-crankum | ADV/N/ADJ/ | Adv. intricately; sinuously. Obs./N. a thing which is full of twists and turns; a winding way; something intricately or fancifully elaborated; a mechanical device or toy; a curio. Also: sinuosity; intricateness; convolution./Adj. twisting in and out, sinuous; intricate; convoluted. also fig. Now rare. | 1656 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| dibble-dabble | N | colloq. or dial. Lit. an irregular course of dabbling or splashing; fig. rubbish; also, uproar with violence. | c1563 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| diddle-daddle | N | stuff and nonsense | 1523 | 0 | 1 | Yes |
| dilly-dally | V/N/ADJ/ ADV | V.intr. to act with trifling vacillation or indecision; to go on dallying with a thing without advancing; to loiter in vacillation, to trifle./N.1. dilly-dallying, trifling hesitancy. Also the name of a game. Obs./2. a dilly-dallying person./Adj.(dial.)./Adv. (nonce-use) | 1592/1740 | 20 | 5 | Yes |
| dimber-damber | N | a captain of thieves or vagrants | 1834 | 0 | 0 | No |
| dindle-dandle | V | trans. to dandle or toss up and down, or to and fro. | ?1555 | 0 | 0 | No |
| ding-dang | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| dingle-dangle | ADV/N/ADJ/V | Adv. in a dangling manner; hanging loosely./N. a dangling or swinging to and fro; concr. a dangling appendage./Adj. hanging loosely and moving to and fro; swinging, dangling./V. to hang loosely dangling or swinging to and fro. | 1598 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| driggle-draggle | N | Obs. exc. dial. a slut, slattern, drab. Also attrib., slatternly | 1588 | 0 | 0 | No |
| fible-fable | N | Obs. exc. dial. nonsense | 1581 | 0 | 0 | No |
| fiddle-faddle | N/ADJ/INT/V | N.1. trifling talk or action; in pl. trivial matters, trifling occupations or objects of attention. 2. an idler, trifler; a gossip, chatterbox./Adj. trifling, petty, fussy: said of persons as well as of things./Int. nonsense! Bosh!/V. intr. to be busy about petty trifles; to fuss, ‘mess about’. | 1577/1633 | 4 | 3 | Yes |
| fidfad | N/ADJ | N. one who gives fussy attention to trifles; a crotchet./Adj. frivolous, fussy, petty | 1754 | 0 | 0 | No |
| fingle-fangle | N | a trifle; something whimsical or fantastic. Also attrib. | c1652 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| finter-fanter | N | Obs. the name of a herb | 1500 | 0 | 0 | No |
| fix-fax | N | N1. The thick tendon in the neck of cattle or sheep./N2. Sc. Obs. Rare. ‘Hurry, the middle of any business’ (Jamieson) [Also fic-fac; fig-fag] | 1768 | 0 | 0 | No |
| flicflac | N | a kind of step in dancing | 1852 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| flim-flam | N/ADJ/V | N. a piece of nonsense or idle talk; a trifle, a conceit./Adj. [developed from an attrib. use of the noun; compare fancy adj.] frivolous, idle, vain, nonsensical; also, deceptive, fictitious, sham./trans. V. 1. to humbug, to beguile into (something). 2. U.S. to cheat (a person) out of (money) ‘while he is making change for a bill, by distracting or confusing him, so that he pays out more than the proper sum’ (Stand. Dict.). [also flimflam] | c1538/1660 | 88 | 7 | Yes |
| flipflap | ADV/N/ADJ | Adv. with a repeated flapping movement./N. slang. ‘a kind of somersault in which the performer throws himself over on his hands and feet alternately’; also, ‘a peculiar rollicking dance indulged in by costers’/Adj.that ‘goes flip-flap’ | 1655 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| flish-flash | V | intr. to make cuts and slashes with a sword | 1641 | 0 | 0 | No |
| fribble-frabble | N | nonsense | 1859 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| frish-frash | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| gibble-gabble | N | senseless chatter. | 1600 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| giddy gaddy | N | Obs. some old game | 1609 | 0 | 0 | No |
| giff-gaff | N | Sc. and north. dial. 1. mutual giving, mutual help; give and take./2. interchange of remarks; promiscuous talk | 1549 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| higgle-haggle | V | to higgle or haggle with much alternation or ‘coming and going’ | 1841 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| hind-hand | N | Now rare. 1 horse riding. the part of a horse that is behind the rider; the hindquarters, cf. forehand./2. in non-human primates: a foot | 1702 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| jibber-jabber | N/V | to talk gibberish | 1922/1948 | 4 | 0 | Yes |
| jim-jam | N | a fanciful or trivial article, a gimcrack, a knick-knack. colloq. | c1540 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| jingle-jangle | N | an alternating jingle of sounds; a sentence or verse characterized by this | 1640 | 10 | 3 | Yes |
| kim-kam | ADJ/ADV | Obs. exc. dial. Adj. crooked, awkward, perverse, contrary./Adv. crookedly, awry; in a wayward, perverse, or contrary way. [also chim-cham] | 1582 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| kit-cat | N | 1. the game of tip cat 2. a club name | 1665 | 0 | 6 | Yes |
| kittle cattle | N | orig. Sc. used to denote people or animals that are capricious, rash, or erratic in behaviour; also transf., objects, concepts, etc., that are difficult to use, sort out, or comprehend. (Initially in phr. (kings are) kittle cattle to shoe behind, an elaboration of kittle to shoe behind) | 1818 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| knick-knack | N | a pleasing trifle, toy [also knickknack, knickknack] | c1625 | 71 | 2 | Yes |
| kniff-knaff | N | Obs. slang. a kind of jest. | 1683 | 0 | 0 | No |
| knip-knap | N | Obs. rare. (?) | 1599 | 0 | 0 | No |
| mingle-mangle | N/ADJ/V | N. a mixture, a mishmash; a confused medley of things, ideas, persons, etc./Adj. (attrib.). made up of a mingle-mangle or hotchpotch; jumbled, muddled. Now rare./V. trans. to make a mingle-mangle or confused mixture of; to jumble, to muddle. Usually in pass. | 1549 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
| mishmash | N/ADJ/V | N. a confused mixture; a medley, hotchpotch, or jumble; a muddle. frequently with of./Adj. confusedly mixed; jumbled, muddled, disorganized; containing highly disparate elements, heterogeneous, motley./V. trans. to make a mishmash or confused mass of; to throw into confusion; to mingle randomly or haphazardly, throw together. [also mish-mash；mysse-masche] | c1475/1694 | 270 | 52 | Yes |
| mixter-maxter | N/ADJ | orig. and chiefly Sc. and Eng. regional (north.) Adj. Oddly mixed or jumbled together; motley; muddled, confused./N. a confused or heterogeneous mixture; an assortment, a jumble. [also mixty-maxty] | 1786 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| mixty-maxty | N/ADJ | orig. and chiefly Sc. and Eng. regional (north.). n. a confused or heterogeneous mixture/adj. oddly mixed or jumbled together | 1786 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| mixy-maxy | ADJ/N | orig. and chiefly Sc. and Eng. regional (north.). Adj. oddly mixed or jumbled together; motley; muddled, confused./N. a confused or heterogeneous mixture; an assortment, a jumble. | 1786 | 0 | 0 | No |
| niff-naff | N/V | Chiefly Sc., Eng. regional (north.), and Irish English (north.). N. a small person or thing; a trifle, a knick-knack. In later use also as a mass noun: junk, clutter; petty concerns or detail./V. to trifle, mess around; to act aimlessly or foolishly | 1808/1728 | 0 | 0 | No |
| niffy-naffy | ADJ | Sc. and Eng. regional (north.). Now rare. of a person: trifling, fussy, concerned with small or unimportant detail; foolish or indecisive | 1765 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| ninny-nanny | 2 | 0 | No | |||
| pibble-pabble | N | rare. Idle, empty, or childish talk | c1616 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| pick-pack | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| pid-pad | N | rare. a series of soft repeated sounds; spec. the sound of footsteps. | 1900 | 0 | 0 | No |
| piff-paff | N | representing the sound of a short, abrupt displacement or passage of air as caused by the flight of a bullet, a small explosion | 1752 | 0 | 1 | Yes |
| pishery-pashery | N | Obs. nonce-wd. perhaps : depreciatory or disparaging talk | 1600 | 0 | 0 | No |
| pish-pash | N | Orig. and chiefly Anglo-Indian, soup or stew containing rice and small pieces of meat, esp. chicken. | 1834 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| pit-pat | ADV (and INT.)/N/ ADJ | Adv. (and int.) with a series of rapidly alternating or repeated light sounds, as of a quick heartbeat, footsteps, etc.; palpitatingly: patteringly. Frequently in to go pit-a-pat. also as int./N. a series of rapidly alternating or repeated light sounds; the action producing these sounds; palpitation, pattering./Adj. of the nature of, or characterized by, rapidly alternating or repeated light sounds; that palpitates or patters. [also pitter-pat, pit-a-pat] | c1535 | 5 | 2 | Yes |
| pitter-patter | N/ADV/V | N. the sound of a rapid succession of light beats or taps, as of rain, footsteps./Adv. with such a sound./V. to produce or move with this sound | a 1450/1642/c1500 | 57 | 4 | Yes |
| pittle-pattle | V | Obs. rare. to recite prayers mechanically | 1549 | 0 | 0 | No |
| pitty-patty | ADV (and INT)/N/ADJ | see ’pit-pat’ | c1535 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| pribble-prabble | N | Now rare. = pribble n. a petty or pointless dispute, a squabble; trivial or nonsensical speech or writing; squabbling, quarrelling, idle chit-chat. only in collocation pribble and prabble. | 1595 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| prinkum-prankum | N | 1. Obs. rare. a prank, frolic, trick; 2. = cushion-dance n. Now rare and hist; 3. Fine attire; fine clothes and adornments. Cf. princum n. Obs. | 1596 | 0 | 0 | No |
| prittle-prattle | N/ADJ/V | N. trivial, idle, or childish talk; gossip or chatter; familiar conversation, small talk./Adj. chattering, talkative; gossipy/V. rare. intr. to chatter, gossip, or talk idly. | c1555/1556 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| ribble-rabble | N/ADJ/ADV | now rare. Adv. in great confusion (Sc. in later use)./Adj. disorderly, confused./N. confused speech or language | ? c1525 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| rickety-rackety | ADJ | colloq. ramshackle; unsteady, shaky. | 1840 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| rick-rack | N/V | N. a decorative zigzag braid, used esp. as a trimming for garments./V. to trim with rickrack; (also fig.) to mark with zigzags [also ricrac] | 1880/1882 | 43 | 1 | Yes |
| riff-raff | N/ADJ | derogatory. N. people of low social class or position; disreputable or undesirable people; members of the rabble considered collectively./Adj. of things: worthless, inferior. now rare. Of persons: low, disreputable; belonging to the rabble. Also of words, songs, etc.: characteristic of members of the rabble. [also riffraff] | c1475 | 174 | 45 | Yes |
| rimble-ramble | ADJ | Obs. vaguely or incoherently discursive; rambling | 1690 | 0 | 0 | No |
| rim-ram | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| ringat-rangat | N | Sc. Obs. rare. disorderly, disorganized, or unruly people | c1600 | 0 | 0 | No |
| riprap | N/V | N. chiefly N. Amer. (orig. U.S.). stones (either loose or cemented in place) used to form a foundation for a breakwater or other structure, and (more generally) to create revetments, embankments, etc.; (also) a structure made of this./V. (orig. U.S.). trans. to provide (a structure) with a foundation of stones (loose or cemented in place); (also) to cover with a deposit of such stones, esp. to prevent erosion. Also occasionally intr. [also rip-rap] | 1557/1837 | 81 | 1 | Yes |
| rittle-rattle | N/INT | N. Obs. a (child’s) rattle (apparently only in the work of Arthur Golding)./Int. representing a rattling sound. rare. | 1567 | 0 | 0 | No |
| scribble-scrabble | ADV/ADJ/N/V | Adj. in a scribbling manner. Obs./Adj. covered with scribble. Obs./N. a scribbler; ; hasty or careless writing./V. (derived) (trans.), to scribble. | 1590/1860 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| scrip-scrap | N | colloq. miscellaneous scraps; odds and ends | 1894 | 0 | 0 | No |
| scritch-scratch | N | continual scratching | 1842 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| shick-shack | N | dial. abuse for persons who were found not wearing the customary oak-apple or sprig of oak on the morning of Royal-oak day | 1847 | 0 | 0 | No |
| shig-shag | N | dial. originally used as a term of abuse for persons who were found not wearing the customary oak-apple or sprig of oak on the morning of Royal-oak day (29 May) which is hence called Shick-shack Day | 1855 | 0 | 0 | No |
| shilly-shally | ADV/ADJ/N/V | Adv. to stand shill I, shall I: to vacillate, to be irresolute or undecided. Also to go shill-I shall-I, to stand at shilly-shally./Adj. vacillating, irresolute, undecided./N. 1. vacillation, irresolution. 2. a vacillating, irresolute person. rare. | 1700/1782 | 9 | 0 | Yes |
| shim-sham | N | (obsolete. exc. dial) | 1797 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| skimble-skamble | ADJ/N/ADV | Adj. confused, incoherent, nonsensical, rubbishy./N. confused or worthless discourse. Also, writing of this nature./Adv. confusedly; in confusion. [also skimble-skamble] | 1598 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| slibber-slabber | N | Obs. a compound or concoction of a messy, repulsive, or nauseous character, used esp. for medicinal purposes | 1566 | 0 | 0 | No |
| slip-slap | N/V | N. the repeated flapping sound caused by loosely-worn shoes./V. intr. to slap repeatedly in rapid succession. rare | 1669/1723 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
| smick-smack | N/ADJ | N. smacking noise; a smacking or frequent kissing. Obs./Adj. elegant, first-rate. rare | ?1550 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| snick-snack | ADV/N | a snipping or clicking sound | 1925 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| snipper-snapper | N | now dial. a young insignificant or conceited fellow | c1593 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| snip-snap | N/ADJ/V/ADV(and INT) | N. 1.the action of snipping or clipping with a pair of scissors or the like; an instance of this. Also fig. 2. smart remark or reply; sharp repartee./Adj. of the nature of snip-snap; characterized by snip-snap or smart repartee./V. 1.intr. to indulge in snip-snap or smart repartee; to speak in a snappy manner. 2. to snip; to clip with a snipping sound./Adv. (and Int.). ?Obs. with snip and snap; with a snipping, snapping sound. | 1597/1600/1593/1596 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
| spitter-spatter | N | rare, trifling talk | 1619 | 0 | 0 | No |
| splish-splash | V | Rare. intr. to splash repeatedly. | 1735 | 8 | 0 | Yes |
| splishy-splashy | ADJ | Adj. (derived from splish-splash) rare. sloppy, slushy | c1850 | 0 | 0 | No |
| squish-squash | ADV/N/V | Adv. with the splashing or squashing sound made in walking through water or soft mud./N. the sound made in this way. Also attrib./V.=squish, intr. of water, soft mud, etc.: to give out a peculiar gushing or splashing sound when walked in or on; to gush up, squirt out, with such a sound. | 1789 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| strim-stram | N | Obs. a rude stringed instrument of the guitar kind | c1730 | 0 | 0 | No |
| swing-swang | N | a swinging to and fro | c1703 | 0 | 4 | Yes |
| swish-swash | N/ADV | N. an inferior or wishy-washy drink. Also attrib./Adv. expressing alternation or repetition of a swishing movement. | c1549 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| switter-swatter | ADV | Adv. (derived) imitative of the sound made by ducks splashing in water | 1694 | 0 | 0 | No |
| thingum-thangum | N | (derived from thingum n. : in early use (with reference to a person) also Mr Thingum) | 1684 | 0 | 0 | No |
| thwick-thwack | N | Obs. the repetition or exchange of thwacks | 1575 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| tick-tack | N/V | N.an imitation of a reduplicated or alternating ticking sound, esp. that made by a clock ; also that of the firing of small artillery. (Used as adv. or int., and hence as n. to denote the sound.)/V. =tick-tock intr. of a clock, etc.: to make a rhythmic alternating ticking sound. [also tictac] | c1550/1842 | 4 | 0 | Yes |
| ticky-tacky | N/ADJ | orig. U.S. N. inferior or cheap material, esp. that used in uniform suburban building./Adj. made of ticky-tacky; cheap, in poor taste. [sometimes ticky-tack] | 1962 | 20 | 1 | Yes |
| tiddle-taddle | 0 | 0 | Yes | |||
| tiffety-taffety | ADJ | (nonce word) | 1595 | 0 | 0 | No |
| tig-tag | V | Sc. to continue in reciprocal action; to bicker; to haggle in bargaining. | 1643 | 0 | 0 | No |
| tingle-tangle | N | N1. a confused tinkling or ringing, as of a number of bells/N2. a cheap or disreputable music-hall or night-club, esp. in Germany; cabaret. | 1653 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| ting-tang | N/V | N. a succession of two ringing sounds, differing in tone or force./V. (derived) dial. | 1680 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| tinkle-tankle | N | N. tinkling with alternation of sound. Also attrib. | c1625 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| tink-tank | N | imitation of the repetition of a sound | 1901 | 0 | 0 | No |
| tip-tap | N/ADJ/ADV/V | N. a repeated tapping or light knocking of alternating character, or the sound made by it./Adj. that taps repeatedly./Adv. with a tapping sound./V. to tap repeatedly or in alternation. | 1604 | 3 | 4 | Yes |
| titbore-tatbore | N | Sc. Obs. N. a game played with a young child, which involves hiding and suddenly reappearing, whilst saying ‘titbore tatbore’./int. used as an exclamation accompanying the revealing of one’s face in the game of ‘titbore tatbore’, or playfully announcing one’s presence to someone | 1614 | 0 | 0 | No |
| tit-tat | N/INT | N. an alternation of beating or knocking sounds, as those made by footsteps, tapping./Int. representing an alternation of beating or knocking sounds, as those made by footsteps, tapping, etc. | 1699 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
| tittle-tattle | N/V | N. talk, chatter, prattle; esp. empty or trifling talk about trivial matters, petty gossip./V. intr. to chatter, prate, talk idly; to gossip. | c1529/1583 | 12 | 27 | Yes |
| trick-track | N | variety of backgammon [also trictrac] | 1687 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| trimtram/trim-tram | N/ADJ | Obs. exc. dial. N. a personal ornament of little value; a pretty toy or trifle; an absurd or silly device or practice/attrib. or as adj. | 1523 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| trin tran | N/ADJ | Obs. exc. dial. a personal ornament of little value/attrib. or as adj. | 1523 | 0 | 0 | No |
| tringum-trangum | N | slang and dial. also attrib. a trinket | 1699 | 0 | 0 | No |
| trinkum-trankum | N | (slang and dial. also attrib.) a trinket | 1718 | 0 | 0 | No |
| trip-trap | 1 | 0 | Yes | |||
| trish-trash | N | Obs. trash, rubbish, worthless stuff | 1542 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| trittle-trattle | INT/N | Sc. Rare. Int. an exclamation expressing contempt./N.(in pl.) 1. foolish or idle talk; nonsense. 2. trifles, gewgaws, knick-knacks. | 1529 | 0 | 0 | No |
| twiddle-twaddle | N/V | N. mere twaddle or foolish chatter. Also attrib. /V. (derived) nonce-word. intr., to chatter foolishly. | 1798 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| twing-twang | N | Rare. a representation of the sound of the harp, or other such instrument | 1761 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| twinkum-twankum | N | Obs. Rare. a refrain of a song, expressing careless jollity | 1729 | 0 | 0 | No |
| twittle-twattle | N | Obs. idle talk, tittle-tattle. Also attrib. | 1556 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| twit-twat | N | Obs. Rare. idle talk. also attrib. | 1677 | 0 | 0 | No |
| whimsy-whamsy | N | a fanciful or fantastic object. Also attrib. | 1807 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| whim-wham | N | 1. a fanciful or fantastic object; fig. a trifle; in early use chiefly, a trifling ornament of dress, a trinket; later in various local uses./2. a fantastic notion, odd fancy; | c1529 | 26 | 1 | Yes |
| whinny-whanny | N | Obs. a trivial thing, trifle | 1673 | 0 | 0 | No |
| whitter-whatter | N | Sc. chatter, ‘loquacity, prattle’(Jamieson) | 1805 | 0 | 0 | No |
| whittie-whattie | N/V | Sc. and north. dial. N. vague or undecided talk or statement; indecision, shilly-shallying; a frivolous excuse./V. (derived) (intr.) to be undecided, to shilly-shally; also, to speak low or secretly, to mutter, whisper. | c1687 | 0 | 0 | No |
| widdle-waddle | V/ADV | V. to walk unsteadily or with a waddling movement./Adv. in an unsteady or waddling manner (in later use esp. one resembling the gait of a duck. | 1662/1664 | 0 | 0 | No |
| wiffle-waffle | 1 | 0 | No | |||
| wiggle-waggle | V/N/ADJ | colloq. V. emphasizing the alternation of movement/N.(derived) (a) the act of ‘wiggle-waggling’; also, a children’s game in which the players waggle their thumbs at a word of command; (b) (also wiggle-woggle) = cakewalk./Adj. (derived). vacillating. | 1778 | 0 | 1 | Yes |
| wiggly-waggly | ADJ | colloq. characterized by or suggestive of ‘wiggling’; having small irregular undulations | 1913 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| wigwag | V/ADV/N | colloq. or techn. to move lightly to and fro, to wag; esp. to wave a flag or other object to and fro in signalling; to signal in this way (intr., or trans. with the flag, etc. or the signal as obj.). also as adv. = with a to-and-fro movement. [also wig-wag] | 1882 | 15 | 0 | Yes |
| wimble-wamble | ADV/N | dial. or arch. N. the ‘general run’, the ordinary crowd/Adv. | 1890 | 0 | 0 | No |
| wimbly-wambly | ADJ | dial. shaky, unsteady; feeble, effeminate | 1881 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| wing-wang | 1 | 0 | Yes | |||
| wirrwarr | N | a state of confusion or disorder | 1866 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| wish-wash | N | 1. a contemptuous name for weak, insipid, or unsubstantial drink (or liquid food). Also attrib. or adj.= wishy-washy adj.(1)/2. fig. Wishy-washy talk or writing. | 1786 | 2 | 4 | Yes |
| wishy-washy | ADJ | 1. of drink (or liquid food): weak and insipid; sloppy. also dial. 2. fig. feeble or poor in constitution, condition, or aspect; weakly, sickly, ‘washed-out’. Now rare or Obs. | 1693 | 176 | 21 | Yes |
| wrig-wrag | N | 1. a contentious person 2. at wrig-wrag, at daggers-drawn; at enmity or variance. | 1529 | 0 | 0 | No |
| ziczac | N | an Egyptian species of plover, Pluvianus ægyptius (Charadrius melanocephalus), which by its cry warns the crocodile of approaching danger | 1844 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| ziggety-zaggety | ADJ/ADV | = zigzag adj., zigzag adv | 1956 | 0 | 0 | No |
| zigzag | N/ADJ/ADV/V | N. pattern like Z’s/Adj. having the form of a zigzag; turning sharply at angles in alternate directions; characterized by turns of this kind./adv. in a zigzag manner or direction./V. intr. to go or move in a zigzag course; to have a zigzag course or direction. Also quasi-trans., to zigzag it, to zigzag one’s way. [also zig-zag] | 1712/1777 | 713 | 174 | Yes |
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Postnominal relative clauses in Chinese
- Outlining a grammaticalization path for the Spanish formula en plan (de): A contribution to crosslinguistic pragmatics
- From connective construction to final particle: The emergence of the Korean disapproval marker hakonun
- Complex predicates, simple inflecting verbs, and “uninflecting verbs” in Pre-Basque
- What makes up a reportable event in a language? Motion events as an important test domain in linguistic typology
- Words are constructions, too: A construction-based approach to English ablaut reduplication
- Oblique nominals, a verbal affix and late merge
- Experimental evidence supporting the overlapping distribution of core and exempt anaphors: Re-examination of long-distance bound caki-casin in Korean
- Reassessing the third person pronominal “copula” in spoken Israeli Hebrew
- Domain restriction in child Mandarin: Implications for quantifier spreading
- Nouns and verbs in the speech signal: Are there phonetic correlates of grammatical category?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Postnominal relative clauses in Chinese
- Outlining a grammaticalization path for the Spanish formula en plan (de): A contribution to crosslinguistic pragmatics
- From connective construction to final particle: The emergence of the Korean disapproval marker hakonun
- Complex predicates, simple inflecting verbs, and “uninflecting verbs” in Pre-Basque
- What makes up a reportable event in a language? Motion events as an important test domain in linguistic typology
- Words are constructions, too: A construction-based approach to English ablaut reduplication
- Oblique nominals, a verbal affix and late merge
- Experimental evidence supporting the overlapping distribution of core and exempt anaphors: Re-examination of long-distance bound caki-casin in Korean
- Reassessing the third person pronominal “copula” in spoken Israeli Hebrew
- Domain restriction in child Mandarin: Implications for quantifier spreading
- Nouns and verbs in the speech signal: Are there phonetic correlates of grammatical category?
