Nils Thun

A thorough study of a minor but important type of word formation - the author analyses c. 1800 English and Scots words formed by reduplication (based on repetition, rhyme or ablaut, e.g. hurly-burly, shilly-shally). This was a gruelling labour - it would be so much easier now with the dictionaries online. The work is made more valuable by the inclusion of material from 'The English Dialect Dictionary' and the historical Scots dictionaries. The Scots dictionaries were still in progress, but the author made his way to Edinburgh and consulted the dictionary slips.… (more)