What is the difference in meaning of:
它的眼睛大大的。 它的眼睛很大。
and
他有大大的眼睛。 他有大眼睛。
And more generally, when might someone use reduplication for adjectives?
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1In English don't you find -- "You have a long, long way to go in mastering the Chinese language"? – Wayne Cheah Jul 9 '20 at 3:16
Reduplication of adjective put emphasis on it
Same as English: "big" in "He has big big eyes" is more emphasized than the simple "big" in "He has big eyes"
他有大大的眼睛 = he has very big eyes
它的眼睛大大的 = his eyes are very big
Notice, not all adjective can be reduplicated, for example we do not reduplicate 巨 because 巨 is already a higher superlative of 大
Also, we don't reduplicated adjectives that are made up of two same characters, For example, 茫茫 is a compound word, not a reduplication of 茫; 忽忽 is a compound word, not a reduplication of 忽
Both 它的眼睛大大的 and 它的眼睛很大 means the same.
However, 它的眼睛大大的 sounds cutie, animating, or vivid(maybe also girlish). 它的眼睛很大 only addresses the fact and doesn't have that effect.
It's quite common to use repeated adjectives in song lyrics, to sound more rhythmic and make the lyrics "fit" the poetic structure. For example, in the song 雪莲:
蓝蓝的天空下青草荡漾
红红的太阳映红了脸庞
We do this in English too, e.g., Red Red Wine.
A.she has a big eye
B.she has a big big eye
so, what's the different? it's the same
in real life you will say A.
but when you writing a story、a novel …. maybe you will use B. to describe something more detail, or make it more emotional
