Baby Talk

I've recently noticed that the French language contains a number of words where a single syllable is repeated twice. This happens all the time in English, especially in reference to words pertaining to or used by children (e.g. "mama", "pee-pee", etc.) Claire and I have brainstormed and come up with the following list of French words of the same pattern:

chou-chou: slang word for "teacher's pet".
pipi: kid's word for "pee"...but I've heard also used a lot by adults. For example, an "arret pipi" is a "pit stop"--when you have to take a stop during a long-distance car trip to take a piss.
zinzin: kid's word for "crazy".
gnangnan: pronounced "nyoh-nyoh", another kid's word for "crazy".
papa: not surprisingly, the word a child uses to refer to "Dad."
pepe: term of endearment for grandpa, e.g. "gramps"
meme: grandma has a term of endearment as well...
tonton: so does your uncle...
tantan: and so does your aunt.
lolo: kid's word for milk.
dodo: kid's word for nap, which is probably related to the French verb for "to sleep" (dormir).
coucou: a common greeting, often used with children as a kind of French version of "peek-a-boo", but can be used amongst adults as well.
gaga: same as in English--e.g. "he's gaga over his grandchildren."
bibi: evidently, a type of hat.
zizi: a little boy's word for his penis--for example, a Mom might say, "N'oublie pas de laver le zizi!" which means "Don't forget to wash your penis!" By the way, the little girl's version of zizi is "zizette."

Probably my favorite of these words is "doudou". We don't have a word for it in the English language, but everybody knows what it is. A doudou can refer to a special doll, an old blanket, or a stuff animal--it is the most prized possession of a very young child. For my young niece Auxanne, it's a tiny elephant doll. For my little sister Susie, it was a raggedy old red blanked which she affectionately refered to as "the gink." I think most children at some point in their lives have a "doudou", and I think it's cool that the French have given it a name.