Lesson 50: Reduplication and Expressive Sound Devices

This lesson covers reduplication, where part or all of a word is repeated to create a new meaning. It also introduces expressive sound devices that stretch vowels to shift meaning.

kata means "to laugh." katakata means "to smile" (to laugh slightly). The base word is repeated in full, and the meaning softens. This is one of several effects reduplication can have in Tongan, and the pattern is highly productive.