Learn English – What does “small small” mean in Indian English

adjectivesindian-englishreduplication

There is a type of 'double adjective' expression in colloquial (mainly spoken) Indian English, which is a reflection of usage in many (Indian) subcontinental languages, example: "small small".

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For instance,

"… … That was so much
beautiful, I can't tell. There were big big mountains, and there were small
small houses in the foothills of them. … …".

My guess is that this is merely used to express a plural form, as in (converted to Standard English). It's more like "a collection of big mountains".

"… … That was so beautiful, I can't tell you how much. There were some big mountains, and there were
many small houses in their foothills."

Am I right?

Other examples of doubling of adjectives as in 'small small':

The playground was full of little little children playing.

If you have any sense, you will listen to old old people!

Big big people will do big big things. Small small people shouldn't imitate them.

In short, what does this type of double adjective as used in colloquial Indian English really mean, and how would you express the same in standard English?

Best Answer

Reduplication is used in Indian English to indicate emphasis, distributive meaning, or indefiniteness

The sources I found indicate that reduplication of adjectives in Indian English can indicate various qualities: emphasis, distributive meaning, or indefiniteness.

This page I found shows that it's used in a distributive manner:

(5) Reduplication used for emphasis and to indicate a distributive meaning: I bought some small small things; Why you don't give them one one piece of cake?

– "Indian English", Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language

The first sentence would mean "a number of small things" and the second sentence would mean "give everyone a piece of the cake".

And this other page specifically says "small small" does not necessarily mean "very small":

Indian Pidgin English is an example of a variety that uses reduplication in a remarkable number of ways. [...] if you hear This house has small small room the meaning is not "a very small room" but "several small rooms". The reduplication expresses plurality.

– Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar, by David Crystal, on Google Books

Some more resources for further reference:

How to express this in other kinds of English

This kind of expression is often used in my language and I get where you're coming from (hopefully). In Turkish, this would emphasize plurality, meaning there are an increased number of small things rather than the same number of smaller things. Unfortunately, Standard English has nothing like what you're suggesting.

The closest you can get is the adjectives like "many" or "a number of". As in

There were a number of large mountains, and many small houses in the foothills.

or you can imply a plural form with "a range of" and by that way, you can use "a number of" for the houses without repeating yourself

There was a range of large mountains, and there were a number of small houses in the foothills.

If you want to imply distance between the houses or the mountains, you could change it to something like

There were a number of large mountains scattered around [the valley], and small houses were at their foothills.

There was a range of large mountains, and small houses were scattered around the foothills.

There was a range of large mountains, and there were a number of small houses, scattered around the foothills.

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