Reduplication and truncation in language plays

So called language plays or ludlings are characterized by phonological transformations of real words by inserting, copying or changing segments or strings of segments. In my Ph D. dissertation "Prosodische Morphologie in grammatischen Kunstsprachen des De utschen" (2009, University of Verona) more than 20 language plays based on the German language are analyzed as morpho-prosodic processes such as reduplication, infixation and truncation. The proposed analysis, cast in the framework of Optimality Theory, c onfirms the main hypothesis of the thesis that language plays are generated through processes similar to those observable in natural languages. Furthermore, language plays make constant use of prosodic categories (syllable, feet) and can thus be regarded as word formation processes where morphology is heavily influenced by prosody, again a phenomenon that we do find in natural language. However, to prove the validity of the hypothesis that language plays operate with natural language rules it is necessar y to extend the research cross-linguistically, exploring language plays in other languages than German. In particular the idea, developed in my thesis, that apparent transpositional (or syllable-precedence-modifying) language plays are analyzable as a com bination of two truncated forms should be tested against other, similar language plays (e. g. Pig Latin, Verlan). If this hypothesis proves to be correct an analysis in terms of syllable reversal, as often suggested in the literature, but not attested in natural languages, can be dismissed. In addition to cross-linguistic extension, the elicitation of more data is planned, in order to extend our corpus of language plays, which at the moment relies mostly on written data, gathered from the internet. Furthe rmore, experiments with native speakers which are familiarized with specific language games will address the question which factors influence the distribution of stress in the play-words.