Datapoint Eskimo Pidgin/Functions of reduplication

There are a handful of lexical items that display a reduplicative pattern. The majority originates from Hawaiian: anana 'sick', hannahanna 'to sew', punnipunni 'sexual intercourse'. The word ababa 'to say' is probably from Chinook Jargon wawa 'speech, talk' (note the confusion in van der Voort (1997: 383–384), where 'Nootka' was written instead of 'Eskimo Pidgin'). The rather universal word kaukau 'to eat, food' may have entered the pidgin via Hawaiian Pidgin.

Values

No reduplication

Confidence:
Certain