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Abstract Abstract: Reduplications are pervasive both in English and Chinese. Partial reduplications are more commonly used in English while total/full reduplications are more often found in Chinese. From the perspective of iconicity, this paper attempts to make a comprehensive contrast between the English and Chinese noun reduplicative forms by the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Through the analysis of the forms and meanings between English and Chinese, the paper looks into the underlying motivation behind them. The results show that the iconicity of English noun reduplications has the tendency of metaphorical iconicity, mainly manifested in the positive correlation between formal changes and degrees of action or state, and shows the temporal trait of its movement, change and development by emphasizing its changes and enhancements, which can be characterized as English temporality in nature in terms of its way of thinking. In contrast, the iconicity of Chinese ones has the tendency of imagic iconicity, chiefly revealed in the positive correlation between formal copies and numbers of objects, and displays the spatial trait of its chunkiness, discreteness and reversibility by emphasizing the extension and expansion of space and scope, which can be defined as Chinese spatiality in substance in the light of its mode of thinking.
Key words: iconicity; English and Chinese; noun reduplications; temporality;
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