Diminutive

Diminutive

In language structure, a diminutive,[1] or diminutive form (abbreviated dim), is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment.[2][3] It is the opposite of an augmentative.

While many languages apply the grammatical diminutive to nouns, a few also use it for adjectives and even other parts of speech.

Diminutives are often used for the purpose of expressing affection (see nickname and hypocoristic). In many languages, the meaning of diminution can be translated "tiny" or "wee", and diminutives are used frequently when speaking to small children; adult people sometimes use diminutives when they express extreme tenderness and intimacy by behaving and talking like children. (See Apocopation).

In some languages, diminutives are formed in a regular way by adding affixes to nouns and proper names; in English the alteration of meaning is often conveyed through clipping, either alone or combined with an affix.[1] English diminutives tend to be shorter and more colloquial than the basic form of the word; diminutives formed by adding affixes in other languages are often longer and not necessarily colloquial.

In many languages, formation of diminutives by adding suffixes is a productive part of the language.[2] All nouns, not just proper nouns can be diminuted. The word "diminutive" is used in a narrower and less vague sense here than when referring to English. The basic meaning of diminution in these languages is "smallness of the object named"; endearment, intimacy, etc. is secondary and dependent on context. For example, the name of one the last Roman emperors of the western part of the Roman Empire—Romulus Augustus—was diminuted to Romulus Augustulus (little Augustus) to emphasise the contrast between the grandness of the name and political insignificance of its bearer; in this case the connotation of diminution is derogatory, not endearing.

A double diminutive is a diminutive form with two diminutive suffixes rather than one.

Contents

Indo-European languages

Germanic languages

English

Productive diminutives are not common in Standard English in comparison with many other languages. For example, one comparative study found that English uses diminutives infrequently in comparison with the Czech language.[4] Nevertheless, most dialects of English feature a fair lot of sidling and sibling diminutives. Terms such as "movie" for "moving picture" are oft-heard terms in English.

Sometimes a diminutive lengthens the original word: e.g., "hottie" to denote a sexually appealing (or "hot") young man or woman. (Note that analogous expressions in languages in which diminution is a regular part of the grammar would not be called diminutives.) Diminutives of first names are often encountered, e.g., Maggie (from Margaret), Sally (from Sarah), or Suzie (from Suzanne); however, they also function as nicknames.

English has also borrowed liberally from other languages when producing new diminutives: e.g., -ette is from French. However, some of those lexicalized and, in many contexts, do not function as proper diminutives in modern English.

English diminutives

Loanwords:

Scots

See also: List of English words of Scots origin

In Lowland Scots diminutives are used much more frequently than in some other forms of English. The diminutive is formed by the suffix -ie, -ock, -ockie (double diminutive) or –ag (the latter from Scottish Gaelic, and probably influencing the other two before it). -ie is by far the most common prefix used.

Examples include

  • -ie: burnie (small burn), feardie or feartie (frightened person, coward), gamie (gamekeeper), kiltie (kilted soldier), mannie (man), Nessie (Loch Ness Monster), postie (postman), wifie (woman)
  • -ock: bittock (wee bit, little bit), playock (toy), sourock (sorrel),
  • -ag: Cheordag (Geordie), bairnag (small child)
  • -ockie: hooseockie (little house), wifockie (little woman)

Dutch

In Dutch, the diminutive is formed by adding one of the suffixes -je, -tje, -pje, -etje, -kje to the noun in question. Often the suffixes -ke, -eke, -ske, -ie, -kje are used in different dialects instead of the former mentioned, but those are not used in official spelling, with the exception of a word like "slapie"—a buddy who one shares sleeping quarters with.

In Dutch, in addition to nouns, diminutive forms of adjectives and adverbs may also be created:

  • adjective: groen (green) → groentje (lit. "little green" meaning rookie)
  • adverbs: groen (green) → groentjes (lit. "littly green" meaning greenish), net (neat) → netjes, zacht (soft) → zachtjes

Some nouns have two different diminutives, each with a different meaning:

  • bloem (flower) → bloempje (lit. "small flower")
  • bloem (flower) → bloemetje (lit. also "small flower", but meaning bouquet)

A few words also exist solely in a diminutive form, e.g. zeepaardje ("seahorse") and sneeuwklokje ("Snowdrop"). See e.g.

When used to refer to time, the Dutch diminutive form can indicate whether the person in question found it pleasant or not.

  • Na een uurtje gezellig gekletst te hebben met haar vriend ging het meisje naar huis.
After chatting to her boyfriend for a little hour, the girl went home.

Afrikaans

In Afrikaans, the diminutive is formed by adding one of the suffixes -ie, -pie, -kie, -'tjie, -tjie, -jie, -etjie to the word, depending on the latter's phonology (some exceptions exist to these rules):

  • -ie for words ending in -f, -g, -k, -p or -s: neef → nefie (male cousin), lag → laggie (laugh), skaap → skapie (sheep)
  • -pie for words ending in -m: boom (tree) → boompie
  • -kie for words ending in -ing: koning (king) → koninkie
  • -′tjie for words ending in -i, -o, or -u (usually borrowed from other languages): impi → impi′tjie
  • -jie for words ending in -d or -t: hoed → hoedjie (hat)
  • -etjie for CVC words ending in -b, -l, -m, -n or -r: bal → balletjie (ball), kam → kammetjie (comb), kar → karretjie (car)
  • -tjie for most other words: soen → soentjie (kiss), koei → koeitjie (cow), appel → appeltjie (apple)

Diminutives of words that are themselves diminutives are used, for example baadjietjie (little jacket). Such constructions do not appear in Dutch.

Afrikaans has almost identical usage and grammar for diminutive words as Dutch, the language Afrikaans was derived from. (detailed below) There are differences in Dutch as compared to Afrikaans. One is that suffixes end with -je (e.g. beetje, a [little] bit, mandje, basket) as compared to -ie in Afrikaans (e.g. bietjie, mandjie—same meanings respectively). This reflects the usage of -ie in the dialects of the province of Holland that most of Dutch settlers came from. An other difference is that in the Dutch language also adjectives and adverbs can be conjugated as diminutives as if they were nouns. Diminutives are widely used in both languages, but much more so in the Afrikaans language.

In some cases the diminutive in Afrikaans is the most commonly used, or even only form of the word: bietjie, mandjie, and boontjie (bean). In other cases the diminutive may be used figuratively rather than literally to imply affection, camaraderie, euphemism, sarcasm, or disdain, depending on context.

German

German features words such as "Häuschen" for "small house", "Würstchen" for "small sausage", "ein Bisschen" for "a little bit" and "Hündchen" for "small dog". Diminutives are more frequently used than in English. Some words only exist in the diminutive form, e.g. "Kaninchen" ("rabbit" derived from the Latin diminutive cuniculus via the Old French word 'conin'). The use of diminutives is quite different between the dialects. The Alemannic dialects for example use the diminutive very often.

Diminutives are always neutral as for grammatical gender, regardless of the original word. For example, the common German word for girl is das Mädchen, which is neutral because it is a diminutive of die Maid (feminine) – the maiden. While Mädchen is an everyday word, Maid is hardly used nowadays and usually is associated with medieval language (as in fables, novels, etc.).

There are two suffixes that can be systematically applied in German:

  • -chen, e.g. "Brötchen" for little bread (corresponding with English -kin as seen in "napkin", Low Saxon (Low German) and Dutch -je, -tje, -ke, -ken and other forms depending on the dialect area)
  • -lein e.g. "Männlein" for little man (corresponding with English -let and -ling, Alemannic/Swabian -lé (Spaetzlé), -li (Hörnli), Bavarian and Austrian -l, and Latin -culus'/-cula)

Suffixation of the diminutive suffixes –chen and –lein to a finally stressed word stem causes umlaut of the stressed vowel.

Austro-Bavarian

In Bavarian and Austrian German, the -l or -erl suffix can replace almost any usual German diminutive. For example, the standard word for 'girl' in German is Mädchen and, while Mädchen is still used frequently in Austrian German, a more colloquial "cute" usage would be Mädl or Madl. It is regular for Austrians to replace the normal Bisschen ('a little' as in "Can I have a little more?") with Bissl. This has become a very distinctive feature of Austrian German.

A familiar example of the -erl diminutive is Nannerl, the childhood name of Maria Anna Mozart, the sister of the celebrated composer. Historically, some common Austro-Bavarian surnames were also derived from (clipped) first names using the -l suffix; for example, (Jo)hann > Händl, Man(fred) > Mändl (both with epenthetic d and umlaut), (Gott)fried > Friedl, and so on.[6][7]

Swabian

In Swabian German this is done by adding a -le suffix (the e being distinctly pronounced, but not stressed). For example, a small house would be a "Häusle" or a little girl a "Mädle". A unique feature of Swabian is that not only nouns may be suffixed with -le, which has no counterpart in other German dialects, High German, or other languages: wasele (diminutive of was, what) or jetzetle (diminutive of jetzt, now) or kommele (diminutive of kommen, come). (In both Spanish and Italian, these may be formed similarly, e.g. igualito – diminutive of igual, same and pochino or pochettino - diminutive of poco, a little/a few). Many variants of Swabian also have a plural diminutive suffix: -la. E.g.: "oi Mädle, zwoi Mädla."

High Alemannic

In High Alemannic the standard suffix -li is added to the root word. A little would be äs bitzli (literally a little bite) as to "ein bisschen" in Standard German. The diminutive form of bitzli is birebitzli.

Vowels of proper names often turn into an umlaut in Highest Alemannic, whereas in High Alemannic it remains the same. Proper names: Christian becomes Chrigi, in Highest Alemannic: Chrigu. Sebastien becomes Sebi resp. Sebu. Sabrina becomes Sabsi resp. Säbe. Corinne becomes Cogi resp. Cogä. Barbara becomes Babsi resp. Babsä, Robert becomes Röbi resp. Röbu. Jakob becomes Köbi resp. Köbu. Gabriel becomes Gäbu in Highest Alemannic.

Low German

In East Frisian Low Saxon, -je, -tje, and -pje are used as a diminutive suffix (e.g. huis becomes huisje (little house); boom becomes boompje (little tree)). Compare this with the High German suffix -chen (see above). Some words have a slightly different suffix, even though the diminutive always ends with -je. For example, man becomes mannetje (little man). All these suffixes East Frisian Low Saxon shares with Dutch (detailed above).

In other varieties of West Low German, spoken in the east of the Netherlands, diminutives occasionally use the umlaut in combination with the suffixes -gie(n):

  • man → mānnegie (EN: man → little man)
  • kom → kōmmegie (EN: bowl → little bowl)

In Northern Low Saxon, the -je diminutive is rarely used, except maybe Gronings, such as in Buscherumpje, a fisherman's shirt. It is usually substituted with lütte, meaning "little", as in dat lütte Huus- the small house. The same goes for the North Germanic languages.

Historically, some common Low German surnames were derived from (clipped) first names using the -ke(n) suffix; for example, Ludwig > Lüdeke, Wilhelm > Wilke(n), Wernher > Werneke, and so on.[8] Some of these name bases are difficult to recognize in comparison to standard German; for example, Dumke, Domke < Döm 'Thomas', Klitzke < Klitz 'Clement', etc.

Yiddish

Yiddish frequently uses diminutives. In Yiddish the primary diminutive is -l or -ele in singular, and -lekh or -elekh in plural, sometimes involving a vowel trade in the root. Thus Volf will become Velvl, Khaim: Khaiml, mame (mother): mamele, Khane: Khanele, Moyshe: Moyshele, kind (child): kindl or kindele, Bobe (grandmother): Bobele, teyl (deal): teylekhl (mote), regn (rain): regndl, hant (hand): hentl, fus (foot): fisl. The longer version of the suffix (-ele instead of -l) sounds generally more affectionate and usually used with proper names. Sometimes a few variations of the plural diminutive forms are possible: balebos (owner, boss): balebeslekh (newly-wed young men): balebatimlekh (petty bourgeois men).

Many other diminutives of Slavic origin are commonly used, mostly with proper names:

  • -ke: Khaim/Khaimke, Sore/Sorke, Khaye/Khayke, Avrom/Avromke, bruder/bruderke (brother). These forms are usually considered nicknames and are only used with very close friends and relatives.
  • -[e]nyu: kale/kalenyu (dear bride), harts/hartsenyu (sweetheart), zeyde/zeydenyu (dear grandpa). Often used as an affectionate quasi-vocative.
  • -tshik: Avrom/Avromtshik, yungerman/yungermantshik (young man).
  • -inke: tate/tatinke (dear daddy), baleboste/balebostinke (dear hostess).
  • -ik: Shmuel/Shmulik, Yisroel/Srolik.
  • -tse or -tshe: Sore/Sortshe, Avrom/Avromtshe, Itsik/Itshe.
  • -(e)shi: bobe/bobeshi (dear grandma), zun/zuneshi (dear son), tate/tateshi (dear daddy).
  • -lebn: tate-lebn, Malke-lebn. This particle might be considered a distinct compound word, and not a suffix.

These suffixes can also be combined: Khaim/Khaimkele, Avrom/Avromtshikl, Itsik/Itshenyu.

Some Yiddish proper names have common non-trivial diminutive forms, somewhat similar to English names such as Bob or Wendy: Akive/Kive, Yishaye/Shaye, Rivke/Rivele.

Yiddish also has diminutive forms of adjectives (all the following examples are given in masculine single form):

  • -lekh (-like): roytlekher (reddish), gelblekher (yellowish), zislekher (sweetish).
  • -ink (-ling): roytinker (cute red), gelinker (cute yellow), zisinker (so-sweet).
  • -tshik or -itshk: kleynitshker (teeny-tiney), altitshker (dear old).

Some Yiddish diminutives have been incorporated into modern Israeli Hebrew: Imma (mother) to Immaleh and Abba (father) to Abbaleh.

Icelandic

A common diminutive suffix in Icelandic is -lingur:

Examples:

  • grís → gríslingur (English: pig → piglet)
  • bók → bæklingur (English: book → pamphlet/booklet)
  • jeppi → jepplingur (English: jeep → SUV)

Swedish

A common diminutive suffix in Swedish is -is:

  • godsak → godis (candy)
  • daghem → dagis (daycare centre/kindergarten)

Note that the usage of -is is not limited to child-related or "cute" things. For instance,

Romance languages

French

French diminutives can be formed with a wide range of endings. Often, a consonant or phoneme is placed between the root word and the diminutive ending for phonetic purposes: porcelet < pourceau , from lat. porcellus.

Feminine nouns or names are typically made diminutive by adding the ending -ette: fillette (little girl or little daughter [affectionate], from fille, girl or daughter); courgette (small squash or marrow, q.e., zucchini, from courge, squash); Jeannette (from Jeanne); pommettes (cheekbones), from pomme (apple); cannette (female duckling), from cane (female duck). This ending has crossed over into English as well (e.g. kitchenette). Feminine nouns may also end in -elle (mademoiselle, from madame).

Masculine names or nouns may be turned into diminutives with the ending -ot, -on, or -ou (MF -eau), but sometimes, for phonetic reasons, an additional consonant is added (e.g. -on becomes -ton, -ou becomes -nou, etc.): Jeannot (Jonny), from Jean (John); Pierrot (Petey) from Pierre (Peter); chiot (puppy), from chien (dog); fiston (sonny or sonny-boy), from fils (son); caneton (he-duckling), from canard (duck or he-duck); chaton (kitten), from chat (cat); minou (kitty, presumably from the root for miauler, to meow); Didou (Didier); Philou or Filou (Philippe).

Some masculine diminutives are formed with the masculine version of -ette: -et. For example: porcelet, piglet, from porc; oiselet, fledgling, from oiseau, bird. However, in many cases the names for baby animals are not diminutives—that is, unlike chaton/chat or chiot/chien, they are not derived from the word for the adult animal: poulain, foal (an adult horse is a cheval); agneau, lamb (an adult is either a brebis, female sheep, or a bélier, male sheep). French is not unique in this, but it is indicated here to clarify that not all names of animals can be turned into diminutives by the addition of diminutive endings.

In Old French, -et/-ette, -in/-ine, -el/-elle were often used, as Adeline for Adele, Maillet for Maill, and so on. As well, the ending -on was used for both genders, as Alison and Guion from Alice and Guy respectively. The Germanic side of Vulgar Latin bore proper diminutives -oc and -uc which went into words such as L pocca and pucca, to become F poche (pouch); -oche is in regular use to shorten words: cinéma → cinoche.

Italian

In Italian, the diminutive is expressed by several derivational suffixes, applied to nouns or adjectives to create new nouns or adjectives with variable meanings. The new word is then pluralized as a word in its own right. Such derived words often have no equivalent in other languages.

  • -ello, -ella: finestra → finestrella (window → little window), misero → miserello (miserable);
  • -etto, -etta, the most used one along with -ino: casa → casetta (house → little house), povero → poveretto (poor), cane → cagnetto (dog);
  • -icchio, -icchia, mainly of regional use, often pejorative: sole → solicchio (sun → weak sun);
  • -ino, -ina, the most used one along with -etto: paese → paesino (village → little village); also in baby talk and after other suffixes: bello → bellino (pretty), giovane → giovanotto → giovanottino (but there are no limits to suffixation, which could continue);
  • -otto, -otta, often attenuating: aquila → aquilotto (eagle → baby eagle), stupido → stupidotto (stupid → rather stupid);
  • -uccio, -uccia, hypocoristic or pejorative (also in southern forms -uzzo, -uzza).

Such suffixes are of Latin origin, except -etto and -otto, which are of unclear origin.[9]

Moreover, there are some additional hypocoristic suffixes which are used to create new adjectives from other adjectives (or, sometimes, from nouns): -iccio, -igno, -ognolo, -occio (of Latin origin, except the last one, whose origin is unclear).[10]

Italian loanwords

Examples which have made it into English are mostly culinary, like linguine (named for its resemblance to little tongues ("lingue", in Italian)), and bruschetta. The diminution is often figurative: an operetta is similar to an opera, but dealing with less serious topics. "Signorina" means "Miss"; with "signorino" (man) they have the same meanings as señorita and señorito in Spanish.

The English demonstrative affixes would be ablauts of -one: -on, -un, -en (big-un, littlun, littl'un, little-un); but this is colloquial and seldom.

Latin

Main article: Latin Wikipedia: Diminutivum (Latinum)

In the Latin language the diminutive is formed also by suffixes of each gender affixed to the word stem. Each variant ending matches with a blend of the variant secondary demonstrative pronouns: In Old Latin, ollus, olla, ollum; later ille, illa, illud (illum-da to set off ileum).

  • -ulus, -ula, -ulum, e.g. globulus (globule) from globus (globe).
  • -culus, -cula, -culum, e.g. homunculus (so-small man) from homo (man)
  • -olus, -ola, -olum, e.g. malleolus (small hammer) from malleus (hammer)
  • -ellus, -ella, -ellum, e.g. libellus (little book) smaller than librulus (small book) from liber (book)

Similarly, the diminutive of gladius (sword) is gladiolus, a plant whose leaves look like small swords.

Adjectives as well as nouns can be diminished, including paululus (very small) from paulus (small).

The diminutive ending for verbs is -ill-, placed after the stem and before the endings. The diminutive verb changes to the first conjugation, no matter what the original conjugation. Conscribere "write onto" is third-conjugation, but the diminutive conscribillare "scribble over" is first-conjugation.

The Anglicisation of Latin diminutives is relatively common, especially in medical terminology. In nouns, the most common conversion is removal of the -us, -a, -um endings and trading them for a mum e. Hence some examples are vacuole from vacuolum, particle from particula, and globule from globulus.

Portuguese

In Portuguese, diminutives can be formed with a wide range of endings but the most common diminutives are formed with the suffixes -(z)inho, -(z)inha, replacing the masculine and feminine endings -o and -a, respectively. The variants -(z)ito and -(z)ita, direct analogues of Spanish -(c)ito and -(c)ita, are also common in some regions. The forms with a z are normally added to words that end in stressed vowels, such as café → cafezinho. Some nouns have slightly irregular diminutives.

Noun diminutives are widely used in the vernacular. Occasionally, this process is extended to pronouns (pouco, a little → pouquinho or poucochinho, a very small amount), adjectives (e.g. bobo → bobinho, meaning respectively "silly" and "a bit silly"; só → sozinho, both meaning "alone" or "all alone"), adverbs (depressinha, "quickly") and even verbs (correndo → correndinho, both of which mean "running", but the latter with an endearing connotation).

Romanian

Romanian uses suffixes to create diminutives, most of these suffixes being of Latin or Slavic[citation needed] origin. Not only names, but adjectives, adverbs and pronouns can have diminutives as well, as in Portuguese, Polish and Russian.

Feminine suffixes

  • -ea (ramură / rămurea = tree branch)
  • -ică (bucată / bucăţică = piece)
  • -ioară (inimă / inimioară = heart)
  • -işoară (ţară / ţărişoară = country)
  • -iţă (fată / fetiţă = girl)
  • -uşcă (raţă / răţuşcă = duck)
  • -uţă (bunică / bunicuţă = grandmother)

Masculine suffixes

  • -aş (iepure / iepuraş = rabbit)
  • -el (băiat / băieţel = boy)
  • -ic (tată / tătic = father)
  • -ior (dulap / dulăpior = locker)
  • -işor (pui / puişor = chicken)
  • -uleţ (urs / ursuleţ = bear)
  • -uş (căţel / căţeluş = dog)
  • -uţ (pat / pătuţ = bed)

Adjectives frumos > frumușel (beautiful ; pretty)

Adverbs repede > repejor (fast ; quite fast)

Pronouns dumneata (you, polite form) > mata > mătăluță (used to address children respectfully in a non-familial context)

nimic ( nothing)> nimicuța

nițel (a little something)

Spanish

See also: Spanish naming customs

Spanish is a language rich in diminutives, and uses suffixes to create them:

  • -ito/-ita, words ending in -o or -a (rata, "rat" → ratita. Ojo, "eye" → ojito. Cebolla, "onion" → cebollita),
  • -cito/-cita, words ending in -e or consonant (león, "lion" → leoncito. Café, "coffee" → cafecito),
  • -illo/-illa (flota; "fleet" → flotilla. Guerra, "war" → guerrilla. Cámara, "chamber" → camarilla),
  • -ico/-ica, words ending in -to and -tro (plato, "plate" → platico),
  • -ín/-ina (pequeño/a, "little" → pequeñín(a). Muchacho/a, "boy" → muchachín(a))
  • -ete/-eta (Pandero, "tambourine" → pandereta).

Other less common suffixes are

  • -uelo/-uela (pollo, "chicken" → polluelo),
  • -zuelo/-zuela [pejorative] (ladrón, "thief" → landronzuelo),
  • -uco/-uca (nene, "children" → nenuco),
  • -ucho/-ucha [pejorative] (médico, "doctor" → medicucho),
  • -ijo/-ija (lagarto, "lizard" → lagartija),
  • -izno/-izna (lluvia, "rain" → llovizna),
  • -ajo/-aja (miga, "crumb" → migaja),
  • -ino/-ina (niebla, "fog" → neblina).

Some speakers use a suffix in a word twice, which gives a more affectionate sense to the word.

  • chico, "boy" → chiquito → chiquitito/a, chiquitico/a, chiquitín(a).
  • pie, "foot" → piecito → piececito, piececillo.

Sometimes alternating different suffixes can change the meaning.

  • (La) mano, "hand" → manita (or manito), "little hand", or manilla or manecilla, "hand (clock)".

Baltic languages

Lithuanian

Lithuanian is known for its array of diminutive forms. Diminutives are generally constructed with suffixes applied to the noun stem. By far, the most common are those with -elis/-elė or -ėlis/-ėlė. Others include: -ukis/-ukė, -ulis/-ulė, -užis/-užė, -utis/-utė, -ytis/-ytė, etc. Suffixes may also be compounded, e.g.: -užis + -ėlis → -užėlis. In addition to denoting small size and/or endearment, they may also function as amplificatives (augmentatives), pejoratives (deterioratives), and to give special meanings, depending on context.[11] Lithuanian diminutives are especially prevalent in poetic language, such as folk songs. Examples:

  • ąžuolas (oak) → ąžuolėlis, ąžuoliukas
  • brolis (brother) → brolelis, broliukas, brolytis, brolužis, brolužėlis, brolutytis, broliukėlis, etc.
  • klevas (maple) → klevelis, klevukas, klevutis
  • pakalnė (slope) → pakalnutė (Lily-of-the-valley, Convallaria)
  • saulė (sun) → saulelė, saulytė, saulutė, saulužė, saulužėlė, etc.
  • svogūnas (onion) → svogūnėlis (bulb)
  • vadovas (leader) → vadovėlis (textbook, manual)

Latvian

In Latvian diminutives are widely used and are generally constructed with suffixes applied to the noun stem. The most common are those with -iņš/-iņa or -ītis/-īte. Others include: -ēns, -elis/-ele.

Examples:

  • laiva → laiviņa (boat)
  • brālis → brālītis (brother)
  • cālis → cālēns (chicken)

Slavic languages

Serbo-Croatian

Serbo-Croatian uses suffixes -ić, -čić for diminutives of masculine nouns, -ica for feminine nouns and names, and -ce, -ašce for neuter nouns.

Feminine:

  • žaba (frog) → žabica
  • lopta (ball) → loptica
  • patka (duck) → patkica

Masculine:

  • konj (horse) → konjić
  • sin (son) → sinčić
  • nos (nose) → nosić

Neuter:

  • pero (feather) → perce
  • sunce (sun) → sunašce
  • jezero (lake) → jezerce

Bulgarian

See also: Bulgarian language#Diminutives and augmentatives

Bulgarian has an extended diminutive system.

Masculine nouns have a double diminutive form. The first suffix that can be added is -че, (-che). At this points the noun has become neuter, because of the -e ending. The -нце, (-ntse) suffix can further extend the diminutive (It is still neuter, again due to the -e ending). A few examples:

  • kufar (suitcase) → kufarche → kufarchentse
  • nozh (knife) → nozhche → nozhchentse
  • stol (chair) → stolche → stolchentse

Feminine nouns can have up to three different, independent forms (though some of them are used only in colloquial speech):

  • zhena (woman) → zhenica → zhenichka
  • riba (fish) → ribka → ribchitsa
  • saksiya (flowerpot) → saksiyka → saksiychitsa
  • glava (head) → glаvitsa → glavichka

Note, that the suffixes can be any of -ка (-ka), -чка (-chka), and -ца (-tsa).

Neuter nouns usually have one diminutive variant, formed by adding variations of -це (-tse):

  • dete (child) → detentse
  • zhito (wheat grain) → zhittse
  • sluntse (sun) → slunchitse

Adjectives have forms for each grammatical gender and these forms have their corresponding diminutive variant. The used suffixes are -ък (-uk) for masculine, -ка (-ka) for feminine and -ко (-ko) for neuter:

  • maluk (small) → munichuk, malka → munichka, malko → munichko
  • golyam (big) → golemichuk, golyamа → golemichka, golyamo → golemichko

Czech

In Czech diminutives are formed by suffixes, as in other Slavic languages. Common endings include -ka, -ko, -ek, -ík, -inka, -enka, -ečka, -ička, -ul-, -unka, -íček, -ínek etc. The choice of suffix may depend on the noun's gender as well as the degree of smallness/affection that the speaker wishes to convey.

Czech diminutives can express smallness, affection, and familiarity. Hence, "Petřík" may well mean "our", "cute", "little" or "beloved" Peter. Some suffixes generally express stronger familiarity (or greater smallness) than others. The most common examples are the pairs -ek and -eček ("domek" – small house, "domeček" – very small house), and -ík and -íček ("Petřík" – small or beloved Peter, "Petříček" – very small or cute Peter), -ko and -ečko ("pírko" – small feather, "pírečko" – very small feather), and -ka and -ička/-ečka ("tlapka" – small paw, "tlapička" – very small paw; "peřinka" – small duvet, "peřinečka" – very small duvet). However, some words already have the same ending as if they were diminutives, but they aren't. In such cases, only one diminutive form is possible, e.g. "kočka" (notice the -ka ending) means "cat" (of normal size), "kočička" means "small cat".

Every noun has a grammatically-correct diminutive form, regardless of the sense it makes. This is sometimes used for comic effect, for example diminuting the word "obr" (giant) to "obřík" (little giant). Speakers also tend to use longer endings, which are not grammatically correct, to express even stronger form of familiarity or cuteness, for example "miminečíčko" (very small and cute baby), instead of correct "miminko" and "miminečko". Such expressions are generally understood, but are used almost exclusively in emotive situations in spoken language and are only rarely written.

Some examples. Note the various stem mutations due to palatalisation, vowel shortening or vowel lengthening:

/-ka/ (mainly feminine noun forms)

  • táta (dad) → taťka (daddy), Anna → Anka, hora (mountain) → hůrka (a very small mountain or big hill), noha (leg, foot) → nožka (a little leg, such as on a small animal)

/-ko/ (neuter noun forms)

  • rádio → rádijko, víno (wine) → vínko, triko (T-shirt) → tričko, pero (feather) → pírko, oko (eye) → očko

/-ek/ (masculine noun forms)

  • dům (house) → domek, stůl (table) → stolek, schod (stair/step) → schůdek, prostor (space) → prostůrek, strom (tree) → stromek

/-ík/

  • Tom (Tom) → Tomík (little/cute/beloved Tom = Tommy), pokoj (room) → pokojík, kůl (stake/pole) → kolík, rum (rum) → rumík, koš (basket) → košík

Polish

In Polish diminutives can be formed of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and some other parts of speech. They literally signify physical smallness or lack of maturity, but usually convey attitude, in most cases affection. In some contexts, they may be condescending or ironic. Diminutives can cover a significant fraction of child's speech during the time of language acquisition.[12]

For adjectives and adverbs, diminutives in Polish are grammatically separate from comparative forms.

There are multiple affixes used to create the diminutive. Some of them are -ka, -czka, -śka, -szka, -cia, -sia, -unia, -enka, -lka for feminine nouns and -ek, -yk, -ciek, -czek, -czyk, -szek, -uń, -uś, -eńki, -lki for masculine words, and -czko, -ko for neuter nouns, among others.

The diminutive suffixes may be stacked to create forms going even further, for example, malusieńki is considered even smaller than malusi or maleńki. Similarly, koteczek (little kitty) is derived from kotek (kitty), which is itself derived from kot (cat). Note that in this case, the suffix -ek is used twice, but changes to ecz once due to palatalization.

There are also diminutives that lexicalized, e.g., stołek (chair), which is grammatically a diminutive of stół (table).

In many cases, the possibilities for creation of diminutives are seemingly endless and leave place to create many neologisms. Some examples of common diminutives:

Feminine

  • żaba (frog) → żabka, żabcia, żabusia, żabeńka, żabuleńka, żabeczka, żabunia
  • córka (daughter) → córeczka, córunia, córcia (Originally córka was created as diminutive from córa which nowadays isn't in common use.)
  • kaczka (duck) → kaczuszka, kaczusia, kaczunia
  • Katarzyna (Katherine) → Kasia, Kaśka, Kasieńka, Kasiunia, Kasiulka, Kasiuleczka, Kasiuneczka
  • Anna (Anna) → Ania, Anka, Ańcia, Anusia, Anuśka, Aneczka, Anulka, Anuleczka
  • Małgorzata (Margaret) → Małgorzatka, Małgosia, Małgośka, Gosia, Gosieńka, Gosiunia, Gosiula

Masculine

  • chłopak (boy) → chłopczyk, chłopaczek, chłopiec (Originally chłopak was created as diminutive from Old Polish chłop which nowadays means "peasant".)
  • kot (cat) → kotek, koteczek, kociątko, kociak, kociaczek, kotuś, kotunio[13]
  • Grzegorz (Gregory) → Grześ, Grzesiek, Grzesio, Grzesiu
  • Michał (Michael) → Michałek, Michaś, Misiek, Michasiek, Michaszek, Misiu
  • Piotr (Peter) → Piotrek, Piotruś, Piotrusiek,
  • Tomasz (Thomas) → Tomek, Tomuś, Tomcio, Tomeczek, Tomaszek
  • ptak (bird) → ptaszek, ptaszeczek, ptaś, ptasiątko

Neuter

  • pióro (feather) → piórko, pióreczko
  • serce (heart) → serduszko, serdeńko
  • mleko (milk) → mleczko
  • światło (light) → światełko
  • słońce (sun) → słoneczko, słonko

Plural

  • kwiaty (flowers) → kwiatki, kwiatuszki, kwiateczki

Adjectives

  • mały (small) (masculine) → maleńki, malusi, malutki, maluśki, malusieńki
  • mała (small) (feminine) → maleńka, malusia, malutka, maluśka, malusieńka
  • zielony (green) (masculine) → zieloniutki
  • zielonkawy (greenish) (masculine) → zieloniutkawy
  • miękkie (soft) (neuter) → mięciutkie

Adverbs

  • prędko (fast) → prędziutko, prędziuteńko, prędziuśko, prędziusieńko[13]
  • prędzej (faster) → prędziusiej
  • fajnie → fajniusio
  • super → supcio

Verbs

  • płakać (to weep) → płakuniać, płakuńciać, płakusiać[13]

Russian

Russian has a wide variety of diminutive forms for names, to the point that for non-Russian speakers it can be difficult to connect a nickname to the original. Diminutive forms for nouns are usually distinguished with -ик, -ок, -ёк (-ik, -ok, -iok, masculine gender), -чк-, -шк-, -oньк- or -еньк- (-chk-, -shk-, -on'k-, -en'k-) infixes and suffixes. For example, вода (voda, water) becomes водичка (vodichka, affectionate name of water), кот (kot, male cat) becomes котик (kotik, affectionate name), кошка (koshka, female cat) becomes кошечка (koshechka, affectionate name), солнце (solntse, sun) becomes солнышко (solnyshko). Often there are many diminutive forms for one word: мама (mama, mom) becomes мамочка (mamochka, affectionate sense), мамуля (mamulia, affectionate and playful sense), маменька (mamen'ka, affectionate and old-fashioned), маманя (mamania, affectionate but disdainful), - all of them have different hues of meaning, which are hard to understand for a foreigner, but are very perceptible for a native speaker. Sometimes you can combine several diminutive suffixes to make several degrees of diminution: пирог (pirog, a pie) becomes пирожок (pirozhok, a small pie, or an affectionate name) which then may become пирожочек (pirozhochek, a very small pie, or an affectionate name). The same with сыр (syr, cheese), сырок (syrok, an affectionate name or a name of a small packed piece of cheese, see the third paragraph), сырочек (syrochek, an affectionate name). In both cases the first suffix -ок changes к to ч, when the suffix -ек is added.

Often formative infixes and suffixes look like diminutive ones. The well known word водка (vodka) has the suffix -ka, which is not a diminutive, but formative, the word has completely different meaning (not water, but a drink) and has its own diminutive suffix -ochka: водочка (vodochka) is an affectionate name of vodka (compare voda - vodichka). There are may examples of this kind: сота (sota, a honeycomb) and сотка (sotka, one hundred sqr. meter), труба (truba, a tube) and трубка (trubka, a special kind of a tube: telephone receiver, TV tube, tobacco pipe - in all these cases there is no diminutive sense). However, трубка also means a small tube (depending on context). But most of the time you can tell diminutive particle from formative by simply omitting the suffix. If the meaning of a word remains, the suffix is diminutive. For example: кучка (kuchka, a small pile) -> куча (kucha, a pile) - the general meaning remains, it is a diminutive form, but тачка (tachka, wheelbarrow) -> тача (tacha, no such word) - the general meaning changes, it is not a diminutive form, потолок (potolok, ceiling) -> потол (potol, no such word) - the same with masculine gender.

There is one more peculiarity. For example, the word конь (kon', a male horse) has a diminutive form конёк (koniok). But конёк (koniok) also means a skate (ice-skating, no diminutive sense in this case), and has another diminutive form конёчек (koniochek, a small skate). The word конёк also means a gable with no diminutive sense.

Adjectives and adverbs can also have diminutive forms with infix -еньк- (-en'k-): синий (siniy, blue) becomes синенький (sinen'kiy), быстро (bystro, quickly) becomes быстренько (bystren'ko). In case of adjectives the use of diminutive form is aimed to intensify the effect of diminutive form of a noun. Diminutive forms of adverbs are used to express either benevolence in the speech or on the contrary to express superciliousness, depending on the inflection of a whole phrase.

Some diminutives of proper names, among many others:

Feminine

  • Anastasia → Nastia (as in Nastia Liukin), Nasten'ka
  • Anna → Anya, An'ka, Anka, Anechka, Annushka, Aniuta
  • Irina → Ira, Irka, Irochka
  • Natalya → Natasha, Natashka, Natashen'ka
  • Tatyana → Tania, Tan'ka, Tanechka, Taniusha
  • Yelizaveta → Liza, Lizochka, Lizka, Lizon'ka
  • Yekaterina → Katia, Katiusha, Katen'ka, Kat'ka, Katechka
  • Yevgeniya → Zhenia, Zhen'ka, Zhenechka

Masculine

  • Aleksander → Sasha, Sashka, Sashen'ka, Sashechka
  • Aleksey → Aliosha (as in Alyosha Popovich), Alioshka, Alioshen'ka, Lyosha, Lyoshka, Lyoshen'ka
  • Andrei → Andriusha, Andriushka, Andriushechka
  • Dmitriy → Dima, Mitia, Dimka, Dimushka, Dimochka, Miten'ka
  • Ivan → Vanya, Van'ka, Vanechka, Vaniusha, Vaniushka, Ivanushka
  • Mikhail → Misha, Mishka, Mishen'ka, Mishechka
  • Pyotr → Petia, Pet'ka, Peten'ka, Petiunia
  • Sergey → Seriozha, Seriozhka, Seriozhen'ka
  • Vladimir → Volodya, Voloden'ka, Vova, Vovka, Vovochka

Celtic languages

Irish

In the Irish language diminutives are formed by adding -ín, and sometimes, -án.

Rós (Rose) > Róisín (Rosalie, Rosaleen)

Seán > Seáinín (Johnny)

Séamas > Séamaisín, Jimín

Pádraig > Páidín (Paddy)

bóthar (road) > bóithrín (country lane)

cailleach (old woman, hag, witch) > cailín (girl) [origin of the name Colleen] < Old Irish 'caille' < Latin 'pallium' = 'cloak'

fear (man) > firín, also feairín, (little man)

teach, also tigh, (house) > tigín, also teaichín

cloch (stone) > cloichín (pebble)

sráid (street) > sráidín (lane, alleyway)

séipéal (chapel) > séipéilín (small chapel)

This suffix is also used to create the female equivalent of some male names:

Pádraig > Pádraigín (Patricia)

Gearóid (Gerald/Gerard) > Gearóidín (Geraldine)

Pól (Paul) > Póilín (Paula)

-án as a diminutive suffix is much less frequent nowadays (though it was used extensively as such in Old Irish):

leabhar (book) > leabhrán (booklet, manual, handbook)

cnoc (hill) > cnócán (hillock)

Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic has two inherited diminutive suffixes of which only one (-(e)ag) is considered productive.

  • -(e)ag, feminine: Mòr ("Sarah") → Mòrag, Loch Nis (Loch Ness) → Niseag ("Nessie")
  • -(e)an, masculine: loch → lochan, bodach (old man) → bodachan (mannikin)

Greek

Ancient Greek

Several diminutive derivational suffixes existed in Ancient Greek. The most common ones were -ιο-, -ισκο-/-ισκᾱ-, -ιδ-ιο-, -αρ-ιο-.[14]

original noun diminutive
βύβλος
býblos		 "papyrus" βιβλίον
biblíon		 "paper", "book"
ἄνθρωπος
ánthrōpos		 "person" ἀνθρωπίσκος
anthrōpískos		 "manikin"
ξίφος
xíphos		 "sword" ξιφίδιον
xiphídion		 "dagger"
παιδ-
paid-[15]		 "child" παιδάριον
paidárion		 "little child"

Modern Greek

Diminutives are very common in Modern Greek. Literally every noun has its own diminutive. They express either small size or affection: size -aki (σπίτι/spiti "house", σπιτάκι/spitaci "little house"; λάθος/lathos "mistake", λαθάκι/lathaci "negligible mistake") or affection -ula (μάνα/mana "mother", μανούλα/manula "mommy"). The most common suffixes are -άκης/-acis and -ούλης/-ulis for the male gender, -ίτσα/-itsa and -ούλα/-ula for the female gender, and -άκι/-aci for the neutral gender. Several of them are common as suffixes of surnames, originally meaning the offspring of a certain person, e.g. Παπάς/Papas "priest" with Παπαδάκης/Papadacis as the surname.

Indic languages

Haryanvi

In Haryanvi, proper nouns are made diminutive with 'u' (unisex), 'da' (masculine), 'do' (masculine) and 'di' (feminine). This is of course most often applied to children's names, though lifelong nicknames can result:

  • Bharat → Bhartu → demonstrates the use of 'u' for a male
  • Vaishali → Vishu → demonstrates the use of 'u' for a female
  • Amit → Amitada → demonstrates the use of 'da' for a male
  • Vishal → Vishaldo → demonstrates the use of 'da' for a male
  • Sunita → Sunitadi → demonstrates the use of 'u' for a male

Hindi

In Hindi, proper nouns are made diminutive with -u. This is of course most often applied to children's names, though lifelong nicknames can result:

  • Rajiv → Raju
  • Anita → Neetu
  • Anjali → Anju

Magahi

In Magahi, proper nouns are made diminutive with -a or -wa. This is of course most often applied to children's names, though lifelong nicknames can result:

  • Raushan → Raushna
  • Vikash → Vikashwa
  • Anjali → Anjalia

Marathi

In Marathi, masculine proper nouns are made diminutive with -ya or -u, while feminine proper nouns use -u and sometimes -ee. This is of course most often applied to children's names, though lifelong nicknames can result.

Masculine :

  • Abhijit (अभिजित) → Abhya (अभ्या)
  • Rajendra (राजेंद्र) → Rajya (राज्या), Raju (राजू)

Feminine :

  • Ashwini (अश्विनी) → Ashu (अशू)
  • Namrata (नम्रता) → Namee (नमी), Namu (नमू)

Sinhala

In Sinhala, proper nouns are made diminutive with -a after usually doubling the last pure consonant, or adding -ya.

  • Rajitha → Rajja
  • Romesh → Romma
  • Sashika → Sashsha
  • Ramith → Ramiya

Iranian languages

Persian

The most frequently used Persian diminutives are -cheh (چه-) and -ak (ک-).

  • Bâgh باغ (garden), bâghcheh باغچه (small garden)
  • Mard مرد (man), mardak مردک (this fellow)

Other less used ones are -izeh and -zheh.

  • Rang رنگ (colour), rangizeh رنگیزه (pigment)
  • Nây نای (pipe), nâyzheh نایژه (small pipe, bronchus)

Armenian

Armenian diminutive suffixes are -ik, -ak and -uk.

Dravidian languages

Tamil

  • Ramanathan, Ramalingam, Ramasamy: Ramu
  • Adhiseshan: Seshu
  • Somanathan, Somaskanthan: Somu
  • Balakrishnan: Bala, Balki
  • SuryaNarayanan: Surya
  • Sivalingam: Siva
  • Nanthakumar, Nandikesan: Nandhu
  • Padmini: Padi
  • Alamelu: Alamu

Telugu

  • Srinivas శ్రీనివాస్: Seenu శీను

Semitic languages

Arabic

In Modern Standard Arabic the usual diminutive pattern is Fu`ayL (CuCayC), with or without the feminine -ah added:

  • kūt كوت"fort" → kuwayt كويت "little fort"
  • hirra هِرّة "cat" → hurayrah هُرَيرة "kitten"

In certain varieties of Arabic, reduplication of the last syllable is also used (similarly to Hebrew), as in:

  • Batta بطة "duck" → Batbota بطبوطة "small-duck"

Hebrew

Modern Hebrew employs a reduplication pattern of its last syllable to mark diminutive forms.

  • kélev כלב (dog) : klavláv כלבלב (doggie)
  • khatúl חתול (cat) : khataltúl חתלתול (kitty)
  • batsál בצל (onion) : b'tsaltsál בצלצל (shallot)
  • adóm אדום (red) : adamdám אדמדם (reddish)
  • dag דג (fish) : dagíg דגיג (small fish)
  • sak שק (sack) : sakík שקיק (sachet; e.g. 'sakík te', a tea bag)

Also, the suffixes -on and -it sometimes mark diminutive forms; the former is masculine and the latter is feminine.

  • kóva כובע (hat) : kovaʾón כובעון (small cap, also means condom)
  • yéled ילד (child) : yaldón ילדון ("kid")
  • sak שק (sack) : sakít שקית (bag; e.g. 'sakít plástik', a plastic bag)
  • kaf כף (spoon) : kapít כפית (teaspoon)

Names can be made diminutive by substituting the last syllable for suffixes such as "-ik", "-i" or "-le", sometimes slightly altering the name for pronunciation purposes. At times, a syllable can be omitted to create an independent diminutive name, to which any of the suffixes mentioned earlier can be applied. In some cases, reduplication works as well.

  • Arié אריה : Ári ארי
  • Ariél אריאל : Árik אריק
  • Mikhaél מיכאל : Míkha מיכה
  • Aharón אהרון : Á(ha)rale אהר'לה or Rón רון, which in turn can produce Róni רוני
  • Davíd דוד : Dúdu דודו, which in turn can produce Dúdi דודי

Sino-Tibetan languages

Chinese

Personal names in Chinese, excluding the family name, are usually two characters in length. Often, the first of the two characters is omitted and replaced with the prefix character 小 xiǎo-, literally meaning "little", or 阿 ā- (more prevalent in Southern China) to produce an affectionate, diminutive name. For example, famous Cantopop singer 劉德華 Lau Tak-Wah (Andy Lau; Liú Déhuá) could use the nicknames 小華 Xiăohuá or 阿華 Āhuá.

Sometimes, "-zǐ" is also used as a diminutive suffix.[16] In the Cantonese dialect, the suffix 仔 (Jyutping: zai2) is used after the second character in the individual's given name. Again using the name of famous Cantopop singer 劉德華 Lau Tak-Wah (Andy Lau; Liú Déhuá), the nickname he could (and does in fact) use in Hong Kong is 華仔 (Jyutping: waa4 zai2).

A very distinctive characteristic of the Beijing dialect is the usage of "er"(儿) suffix to a word, or commonly known as erhua(儿化). The "er" suffix indicates a phonological process that adds r-coloring or the "ér" (儿) sound, as it demunitize the associated word. For example, 小孩 (xiǎohái) (small child) will be pronounced as 小孩儿 (xiǎoháir) in Beijing dialect.

Turkic language

Turkish

See also Turkish grammar

Turkish diminutive suffixes are -cik and -ceğiz, and variants thereof as dictated by the vowel harmony rules of Turkish grammar.

-cik is applied in cases of endearment and affection, in particular toward infants and young children by exaggerating qualities such as smallness and youth, whereas -ceğiz is used in situations of compassion and empathy, especially when expressing sympathy toward another person in times of difficulty. Note the effects of vowel harmony in the following examples:

  • köy (village) → köyceğiz (dear little village), kadın (woman) → kadıncağız (poor dear woman), çocuk (child) → çocukcağız (poor dear child)
  • kedi (cat) → kedicik (cute little cat), gül (laugh) → gülücük (giggles/cute little laugh), Mehmet (a common male name) → Mehmetçik (literally little/young Mehmet but also used as an affectionate term for Turkey's soldiers, see also Mehmetçik)

Uralic languages

Estonian

The diminutive suffixes of Estonian "-kene" in its long form, but can be shortened to "-ke". In all grammatical cases except for the nominative and partitive singular, the "-ne" ending becomes "-se". It is fully productive and can be used with every word. Some Words, such as "päike(ne)" (sun), "väike(ne)" (little) or "pisike(ne)" (tiny), are diminutive in their basic form, the diminutive suffix cannot be removed from these words. The Estonian diminutive suffix can be used recursively - it can be attached to a word more than once. Forms such as "pisikesekesekene", having three diminutive suffixes, are grammatically legitimate. As is demonstrated by the example, in recursive usage all but the last diminutive "-ne" suffix become "-se" as in forms inflected by case.

Finnish

The diminutive suffixes of Finnish "-ke", "-kka", and "-nen" are not universal, and cannot be used on every noun. The feature is common in Finnish surnames, f.e. 'Jokinen' could translate 'Streamling', but since this form is not used in speaking about streams, the surname could also mean 'lands by the stream' or 'lives by the stream'. Double diminutives also occur in certain words f.e. lapsukainen (child, not a baby anymore), lapsonen (small child), lapsi (child).

Examples:

    • -ke: haara (branch) → haarake (little branch), nimi (name) → nimike (label, tag)
    • -kka: peni (dog (archaic)) → penikka (whelp, pup), nenä (nose) → nenukka (little nose)
    • -nen: lintu (bird) → lintunen (little bird), poika (boy, son) → poikanen (little boy, animal offspring)

Hungarian

Hungarian uses the suffixes -ka/ke and -cska/cske to form diminutive nouns. The suffixes -i and -csi may also be used with names. However, you traditionally cannot have the diminutive form of your name registered officially in Hungary (although a few of the most common diminutive forms have been registered as possible legal first names in the past years). Nouns formed this way are considered separate words (as all words that are formed using képző type suffixes). They may not even be grammatically related to the base word, only historically, whereas the relation has been long forgotten.

Some examples:

  • Animals
    • -us: kutya → kutyus (dog), cica → cicus (cat)
    • -ci: medve → maci (bear), borjú → boci (calf)
  • Names
    • -i: János (John) → Jani, Júlia → Juli, Kata → Kati, Mária → Mari, Sára → Sári
    • -csi: János → Jancsi
    • -ika/ike: Júlia → Julika, Mária → Marika
    • -iska/iske: Júlia → Juliska, Mária → Mariska
    • -us: Béla → Bélus
    • -ci: Béla → Béci, László → Laci, Júlia → Juci
    • -có: Ferenc → Fecó, József → Jocó
    • -tya: Péter → Petya, Zoltán → Zotya
    • -nyi: Sándor (Alexander) → Sanyi

Note that these are all special diminutive suffixes. The universal -ka/ke and -cska/cske can be used to create further diminutive forms, e.g. kutyuska (little doggy), cicuska (little kitty). Theoretically, more and more diminutive forms can be created this way, e.g. kutyuskácskácska (little doggy-woggy-snoggy). Of course, this is not a common practice; the preferred translations are kutyulimutyuli (doggy-woggy) and cicamica (kitty-witty).

In some cases, the diminutive suffix has become part of the basic form. These are no longer regarded as diminutive forms:

  • Animals: cinke (tit), róka (fox), csóka (jackdaw), szarka (magpie), pulyka (turkey), csirke (chicken)

You can use the adjectives kicsi or kis (little) to create diminutive forms of these nouns, e.g. kicsi macska or kismacska (kitten).

International auxiliary languages

Esperanto

See also Esperanto word formation.

For generic use (for living beings and inanimate objects), Esperanto has a single diminutive suffix, -et.

  • domo (house) → dometo (cottage)
  • varma (warm) → varmeta (lukewarm)
  • knabo (boy) → knabeto (little boy)

For personal names and familial forms of address, the affixes -nj- and -ĉj- are used, for females and males respectively. Unusually for Esperanto, the "root" is often shortened, in an unpredictable manner, before being added to.

  • Patrino (Mother) → Panjo (Mum, Mom)
  • Mario/Maria (Mary, Maria) → Manjo, Marinjo
  • Sofio/Sofia (Sophie, Sophia) → Sonjo, Sofinjo
  • Patro (Father) → Paĉjo (Dad, Daddy)
  • Johano (John, Johann) → Johanĉjo, Joĉjo (Jack, Johnny)
  • Vilhelmo (William, Wilhelm) → Vilhelĉjo, Vilheĉjo, Vilĉjo, Viĉjo (Willy, Bill, Billy)

Whereas languages such as Spanish may use the diminutive to denote offspring, as in "perrito" (pup), Esperanto has a dedicated and regular suffix, "-id" used for this purpose. Thus "hundeto" means "little dog" (such as a dog of a small breed), while "hundido" means a dog who is not yet fully grown.

Interlingua

See also Free word-building in Interlingua.

Interlingua has a single diminutive suffix, -ett, for diminutives of all sorts.

  • Johannes (John) → Johannetto (Johnny)
  • camera (chamber, room) → cameretta (little room)
  • pullo (chicken) → pulletto (chick)

Use of this suffix is flexible, and diminutives such as mama and papa may also be used. To denote a small person or object, many Interlingua speakers simply use the word parve, or small:

  • parve can → small dog
  • parve arbore → small tree

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Beyond the diminutive form of a single word, a diminutive can be a multi-word name, such as "Tiny Tim" or "Little Dorrit".
  2. ^ a b "The Standards Site: Glossary - D to F", Crown Copyright, 1997-2008, webpage: Gov-UK-Glossary-DEF.
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 6th edition
  4. ^ CHAMONIKOLASOVÁ, Jana - RAMBOUSEK, Jiří. Diminutive expressions in translation: a comparative study of English and Czech. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 21, Amsterdam, John Benjamins Publishing Company, The Nederlands. ISSN 2007, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 51-67. Abstract
  5. ^ Albert J. Carnoy (1917). Apophony and Rhyme Words: III. The Suffixes: -ittus, -attus, -ottus, -iccus, -accus, -occus. Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 278–284. http://books.google.com/books?id=3ovPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA278. 
  6. ^ Schiffmann, Konrad. 1922. Das Land ob der Enns: eine altbaierische Landschaft in den Namen ihrer Siedlungen; Berg, Flüsse und Seen. Munich: Oldenbourg, p. 133.
  7. ^ Schmeller, Johann Andreas. 1872–1877. Bayerisches Wörterbuch. Munich: Oldenbourg, p. 1738.
  8. ^ Hirt, Herman. 1968. Etymologie der neuhochdeutschen Sprache. Munich: C. H. Beck, p. 365.
  9. ^ Luca Serianni, Grammatica italiana, UTET, 1989. XV.70-75.
  10. ^ Luca Serianni, Grammatica italiana, UTET, 1989. XV.54.
  11. ^ Studies on word-formation in Lithuanian (1944-1974), Antanas Klimas, University of Rochester
  12. ^ Ewa Haman, EARLY PRODUCTIVITY IN DERIVATION. A CASE STUDY OF DIMINUTIVES IN THE ACQUISITION OF POLISH", Psychology of Language and Communication 2003, Vol. 7, No. 1 (pdf)
  13. ^ a b c Jan Miodek, "PIENIĄŻKI DLA MAŁŻONKI", Wiedza i Zycie, 1, 1998. http://archiwum.wiz.pl/1998/98013200.asp (copy)
  14. ^ Herbert Weir Smyth. A Greek grammar for colleges. page 235, paragraph 852: diminutives.
  15. ^ παῖς
  16. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Y9B4IgAACAAJ&dq=Chinese+jerry+norman

See also


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  • Diminutive — Di*min u*tive, a. [Cf. L. deminutivus, F. diminutif.] 1. Below the average size; very small; little. [1913 Webster] 2. Expressing diminution; as, a diminutive word. [1913 Webster] 3. Tending to diminish. [R.] [1913 Webster] Diminutive of liberty …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Diminutive — Di*min u*tive, n. 1. Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing. [1913 Webster] Such water flies, diminutives of nature. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. (Gram.) A derivative from a noun, denoting a small or a young object of the same… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • diminutive — [də min′yo͞o tiv, də min′yətiv] adj. [ME & OFr diminutif < LL diminutivus < pp. of L deminuere, DIMINISH] 1. much smaller than ordinary or average; very small; tiny 2. Gram. expressing smallness or diminution [a diminutive suffix or name] n …   English World dictionary

  • diminutive — index immaterial, minimal, paltry, petty, remote (small), slight, tenuous Burton s Legal Thesaurus …   Law dictionary

  • diminutive — late 14c. (n. and adj.), from O.Fr. diminutif (14c.), from L. diminutivus, earlier deminutivus, from pp. stem of deminuere (see DIMINISH (Cf. diminish)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • diminutive — adj little, *small, wee, tiny, minute, miniature Contrasted words: *large, big, great: enormous, immense, *huge, vast, colossal, mammoth …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • diminutive — [adj] tiny, petite bantam, bitsy*, bitty*, button*, Lilliputian, little, midget, mini, miniature, minute, peewee*, pint sized, pocket, pocket sized, small, teensy*, teensyweensy*, teeny*, teeny weeny*, undersize, wee*, weeny*; concept 789 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

  • diminutive — ► ADJECTIVE 1) extremely or unusually small. 2) (of a word, name, or suffix) implying smallness (e.g. let in booklet). ► NOUN ▪ a shortened form of a name, typically used informally. DERIVATIVES diminutively adverb diminutiveness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • diminutive — [[t]dɪmɪ̱njʊtɪv[/t]] diminutives 1) ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n A diminutive person or object is very small. Her eyes scanned the room until they came to rest on a diminutive figure standing at the entrance. Syn: tiny 2) N COUNT A diminutive is an… …   English dictionary

  • diminutive — I UK [dɪˈmɪnjʊtɪv] / US [dɪˈmɪnjətɪv] adjective formal very short or small a diminutive woman with bright blue eyes II UK [dɪˈmɪnjʊtɪv] / US [dɪˈmɪnjətɪv] noun [countable] Word forms diminutive : singular diminutive plural diminutives linguistics …   English dictionary

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