>OK, besides the aforementioned Walla Walla, can anyone think of other reduplicative place names? I can think of three others.You're just not thinking hard enough then, Anna.
Wagga Wagga (also already mentioned) would have to be the best known Australian town with such a name, but a quick scan of our postcode list reveals:
Bli Bli, Boonoo Boonoo, Curl Curl, Doon Doon, Gol Gol, Ki Ki, Lal Lal, Nowa Nowa, Pindi Pindi, Pura Pura, Wool Wool and Woy Woy. Then there are placenames for other geographical features, such as Yarra Yarra and Mullum Mullum. I don't know the significance of repetition in the Aboriginal languages concerned - my completely uninformed guess would be a plural. Perhaps Nicholas Nicholas can help us out?
I grew up in a house named Goonoo Goonoo after an outback farming property. Curiously my parents pronounced it (rightly or wrongly, I have no idea) as "Gunna G'noo".
Which reminds me, I was told as a child that "Pago Pago" is pronounced something like "Pakka Pay-go". Any truth in that, or, if not, any idea where the notion sprang from?
