Thursday, August 6, 2020

Reduplication Avocation (Part II)

Last time I started my list of reduplicative names following the pattern [consonant][vowel][same consonant][a]. Turns out: there's a lot!

As last time, many are diminutives rather than full given names, especially in European languages. All are feminine, unless marked with an *. 

  • PAH-pah: Papa (many Polynesian mythologies)
  • PEH-pah: Pepa* (Spanish, Bulgarian, Czech) / Peppa (Italian) [unisex in Spanish and Czech; feminine elsewhere]
  • PIP-pah: Pippa (English)
  • PEE-pah: Pipa (Finnish)

  • RAH-rah: Rara (Swedish, Japanese)
  • RYE-rah: Raira* (Japanese [rare and unisex in real life; more common in pop-culture as a gairaigo of names like Lyra and Laila])
  • RAY-rah: Reira (Japanese)
  • REE-rah: Rira (Japanese)
  • ROH-rah: Rora (Swedish, Japanese [pop culture])
  • ROW-rah: Raura (Japanese)
  • ROO-rah: Ruura (Finnish)

  • SAH-sah: Sasa* (Scandinavian) / Sassa* (Scandinavian) [unisex]
  • SYE-sah: Sæsa (Icelandic)
  • SEH-sah: Sessa (Scandinavian)
  • SAY-sah: Zeiza (Spanish)
  • SEE-sah: Sisa* (Fijian, Slovak, Quechua, Southern African [not sure which language]) / Sissa (Swedish) / Ziza (Spanish) 
    [masculine in Fijian and in Southern Africa; feminine elsewhere]
  • SOH-sah: Sossa (Swedish)
  • SOO-sah: Susa (Finnish, Swedish, Spanish) / Sussa (Swedish) / Sússa (Icelandic)

  • SHAH-shah: Shasha (Mandarin, Indian [not sure which language], Russian) / Xiaxia (Mandarin) [unisex in Russian and in India; feminine in Mandarin]
  • SHEH-shah: Shesha* (Indian) [a Hindu god, and mostly masculine in real-life usage, as far as I can tell] / Xiexia (Mandarin)  
  • SHEE-sha: Shisha* (Biblical Hebrew)
  • SHOH-shah: Shosha (modern Hebrew)
  • SHOW-shah: Xiaoxia (Mandarin)
  • SHOO-shah: Xuxa (Portuguese) / Xiuxia (Mandarin)

  • TAH-tah: Tata* (Georgian, Russian, Portuguese) [unisex in Portuguese; feminine elsewhere. Also means "Daddy" in many languages]
  • TEH-tah: Teta (Italian, Greek, Spanish, Slavic mythology) / Tetta (Finnish) [also means "aunt" in several languages, and "breast" in others]
  • TEE-tah: Tita (pretty much all over the Western world) / Titta (Finnish)
  • TOH-tah: Tota* (Indian [not sure which language(s)], Japanese, Spanish, Basque) / Tóta (Icelandic) / Touta* (Japanese) / Totta* (Swedish)
    [masculine in Japanese and Spanish, and in India; unisex in Swedish; feminine in Basque and Icelandic]
  • TOO-tah: Tuta* (Georgian, Portuguese) / Tutta (Scandinavian) / Tuuta (Greenlandic) [masculine in Portuguese; feminine elsewhere]

  • TSAH-tsah: Tsatsa (Georgian)
  • TSEH-tsah: Ceca (Serbian)

  • VAH-vah: Vavá* (Portuguese)
  • VYE-vah: Vaiva (Lithuanian)
  • VEH-vah: Veva (Italian, Spanish)
  • VEE-vah: Veva (English) / Viva (Scandinavian, English) / Viiva (Finnish)
  • VOH-vah: Vova* (Russian)

  • WAH-wah: Wawa* (Mandarin, Papuan [not sure which language]) [masculine in Papua New Guinea, feminine in Mandarin]

  • YAH-yah: Yahya* (Arabic, Turkish, Persian) / Jaaja* (Greenlandic) / Yaya* (Central & Western African [not sure which language(s)])
  • YEH-yah: Yeya (Spanish)
  • YEE-yah: Yiya (Spanish, Mandarin)
  • YOH-yah: Yoya (Spanish) / Youya (Mandarin)
  • YOO-yah: Jujja (Swedish) / Yuuya* (Japanese) / Yuya* (Japanese)

  • ZAH-zah: Zaza* (Georgian, Biblical Hebrew)
  • ZAY-zah: Zeiza (Arabic)
  • ZEE-zah: Ziza* (Biblical Hebrew, Arabic) [masculine in Hebrew; feminine in Arabic]
  • ZOO-zah: Zuza (Polish, Slovak) / Zůza (Czech)

  • ZHAH-zhah: Zsazsa / Zsa Zsa (extremely rare nickname--I found usage in a few languages, but each case was literally the only one I found in each language [for Zsa Zsa Gabor, it was a nickname for Sári/Sarah]) / Jajá* (Portuguese)
  • ZHEE-zhah: Žiža (Serbian)
  • ZHOO-zhah: Zsuzsa (Hungarian)

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