In grammar, a frequentative form (abbreviated FREQ or FR) of a word indicates repeated action but is not to be confused with iterative aspect.
The frequentative is no longer productive in English, unlike in some language groups, such as Finno-Ugric, Balto-Slavic, and Turkic.
Frequentative nouns are often formed by combining two different vowel grades of the same word (as in teeter-totter, pitter-patter, chitchat.)
In Finnish, a frequentative verb signifies a single action repeated, "around the place" both spatially and temporally.
Their meanings are slightly different; see the list, arranged infinitive~personal: Frequentatives may be combined with momentanes, that is, to indicate the repetition of a short, sudden action.
Also there is a so-called Template rule, which forces another vowel in between the base verb and the affix resulting in a word containing at least three syllables.
Starting from the infinitive without –ti, it is formed by adding the invariant morpheme –dav– followed by the regular past tense suffix of the first conjugation.
The closest relative of Lithuanian, Latvian, as well as the Samogitian dialect of the language, has no separate past tense to mark iterative aspect; in its place, however, both may express it by means of periphrasis.
In the Russian language, the frequentative form of verbs to denote a repeated or customary action is produced by inserting suffixes -ива-/-ыва-, -ва- or -а́-, often accompanied with a change in the root of the word (vowel alternation, change of the last root consonant) and stress shift.
This is common in Austronesian languages such as Niuean, although reduplication also serves to pluralize and intensify nouns and adjectives.