[මෙම පාඩම පසුව සිංහලට පරිවර්තනය කර, පළ කරනු ඇත!]

{This Lesson would be translated into Sinhalese & published later!}

A very common form of compound word, in English as in many other languages, is the Reduplicative.

Some reduplicatives are merely syllables doubled, like bulbul, murmur. A child says gee-gee for horse; tut-tut! expresses annoyance; some people say chin-chin for good-bye. Pretty-pretty means too pretty; goody-goody means pretending to goodness.

But generally reduplicatives are repetitions of syllables with some change in one of them. Many of them are imitations of sounds. Ding-dong (sound of bells; with great vigour); dingle-dangle (swinging to and fro); flip-flop (sound of someone walking in loose slippers, etc.); helter-skelter (full-speed recklessly); higgledy-piggledy (in untidy confusion); hubbub (confused loud noise); pit-a-pat (sound of heart beating, etc.); riff-raff (rabble); see-saw, tittle-tattle (gossip); willy-nilly [whether he (one) will or not]; and over a thousand others.