ABLAUT REDUPLICATION IS WHY 'TIC-TAC-TOE' SOUNDS RIGHT-AND 'TAC-TIC-TOE' DOESN'T

Written By : Kamillah Fahrudin

Have you ever stopped to think about why we say tic-tac-toe in that exact order? Or caught yourself mistakenly saying flop-flips instead of flip-flops?

This quirky pattern, where repeated words change just one vowel sound, is called "ablaut reduplication”. It adds a rhythmic, playful twist to language, so let me show you how it works!

First, it is important to understand why we do this:

We, as humans, are always seeking rhythm in the way we speak, even if we don't do so consciously.  It turns out that putting vowels in a certain order sounds more natural than others. Think of criss-cross, chit-chat, and the example used above, tic-tac-toe.

If you look clearly, there is a pattern to be found in these words, namely I, A, O, and there is a reason behind this, let's try something:

Open your mouth and make the sound “I”, you will feel that your tongue automatically lifts itself to make this sound.

Next, try saying “A”, now your tongue is likely to lower itself a bit.

And finally, when you say “O”, your tongue nestles itself closer to the bottom of the mouth.

So with the sequence of I, A, O, the tongue is essentially moving from the top of your mouth to the bottom, which gives us that “roll off the tongue” feeling.

Here are some other examples:

• pitter-patter

• mish-mash

• hip-hop

• dilly-dally

• ping-pong

• ding-dang-dong

Pro tip!

Do you have trouble remembering the rule of ablaut reduplication? Just think of ‘“Big Bad Wolf”

Now you know more about ablaut reduplication! Can you think of more words that follow this rule?

Sources

• “Why ablaut reduplication is tip-top”, Lisa McLendon.

• https://aceseditors.org/news/2020/why-ablaut-reduplication-is-tip-top

• “Reduplication reflects uniqueness and innovation in language, thought and culture”, Charles A. Kauffman, York College of Pennsylvania.

• https://omniglot.com/pdfs/reduplication.pdf

• “The language rules we know – but don’t know we know”, Mark Forsyth.

• https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160908-the-language-rules-we-know-but-dont-know-we-know

• “This Weird Grammar Rule Is Why We Say “Flip Flop” Instead of “Flop Flip”, Brandon Specktor.

• https://www.rd.com/article/ablaut-reduplication