Emphatic reduplication in Oroqen and its Altaic context

Orogen, a Tungusic language spoken in China, uses the partial reduplication of adjective stems to indicate intensity. This process of "emphatic redupl ication" is widespread in Altaic languages, which raises the question of wh ether it might be a reflex of an archaic genetic trait of Altaic. We argue, to the contrary, that the presence of reduplication in Orogen is the resul t of borrowing, most likely from a Mongolic language. Inter alia, the highl y restrictive nature of the reduplication in Orogen, its failure to adhere to Orogen phonotactics, and the distribution of reduplication in other Tung usic and Mongolic languages are offered as evidence to support this positio n. Finally, we also provide data that point to the disappearance of emphati c reduplication in Orogen.