Examine individual changes

'In language structure, a '''diminutive''',<ref name=more/> or '''diminutive form''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''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.<ref name=UKgov/><ref>Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 6^th edition</ref> 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 [[Lexical category|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 name]]s; in English the alteration of meaning is often conveyed through [[clipping (morphology)|clipping]], either alone or combined with an affix.<ref name="more"> Beyond the ''diminutive form'' of a single word, a ''diminutive'' can be a multi-word name, such as "Tiny Tim" or "Little Dorrit".</ref> 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 [[suffix]]es is a [[Productivity (linguistics)|productive]] part of the language.<ref name="UKgov"> "The Standards Site: Glossary - D to F", [[Crown copyright|Crown Copyright]], 1997-2008, webpage: [http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/secondary/keystage3/respub/mflframework/appendices/glossary_of_terms/d_to_f/ Gov-UK-Glossary-DEF]. </ref> 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. ==Indo-European languages== ===Germanic languages=== ====English==== [[productive (linguistics)|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.<ref>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. [http://muni.cz/research/publications/715342 Abstract]</ref> Nevertheless, most dialects of [[English language|English]] feature a fair lot of [[collateral adjective|sidling]] and [[wikt:cognate|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 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 [[lexicalisation|lexicalized]] and, in many contexts, do not function as proper diminutives in modern English. =====English diminutives===== *-k/[[wikt:-ock|-ock]]/-uck: [[balk]], [[bollock]], [[bullock]], [[buttock]], [[fetlock]], [[folk]], [[hark]], [[hillock]], [[jerk]], [[mark]], [[mattock]] (OE ''mattuc''), [[milk]], [[wikt:mullock|mullock]], [[pillock]], [[smirk]], [[snack]], [[spark]], [[stalk]], [[talk]], [[whelk]], [[wikt:work|work]], [[yolk]] *-n/[[wikt:-en#Old English|-en]]/-on (accusative or feminine): [[burden]], [[chicken]], [[evening|even]], [[wikt:heaven|heaven]] (OE ''heofon''), [[kitten]], [[maiden]], [[wikt:morn|morn]], [http://etymonline.com/index.php?search=oven oven], [[wikt:steven|steven]], [[vixen]], [[weapon]] (OE ''wæpen'') *[[wikt:-le#English|-le]] (defrequentative -l): [[beetle]], [[boodle]], [[chortle]], [[doodle]] (shares root with [[dude]], P ''[[dodo|doudo]]'', [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dolt dolt], [http://etymonline.com/index.php?search=dull dull], [[wikt:dote|dote]], [[dotterel]]), [[wikt:fizzle|fizzle]], [[giggle]], [[wikt:kibble|kibble]], [[wikt:little|little]], [[wikt:mickle|mickle]], [[noodle]], [[oodle]], [[puddle]], [[riddle]], [[sparkle]] *[[wikt:-ish|-ish]] (disparative): [[wikt:boyish|boyish]], [[wikt:fiftyish|fiftyish]], [[wikt:girlish|girlish]], [[wikt:largish|largish]], [[wikt:mannish|mannish]], [[wikt:noonish|noonish]], [[wikt:reddish|reddish]], [[wikt:smallish|smallish]], [[wikt:tallish|tallish]], [[wikt:twelveish|twelveish]], [[wikt:womanish|womanish]] *[[wikt:-s#Etymology 3|-s]] (degenitive): [[David Beckham|Becks]], [[Elizabeth (given name)|Betts]], [[Prince William|Wills]] *-sie/-sies/-sy ([[babytalk]] assimilative or from ''patrici-'' of Patsy): [[wikt:bitsy|bitsy]], [[footsie]] (1930), halfsies, [[wikt:onesies|onesies]], [[wikt:popsy|popsy]] (1860), [[wikt:teensy-weensy|teensy-weensy]], [[tootsie]] (1854), [[wikt:twosies|twosies]], [[Betsy]], [[Patsy]], [[Rob]]sy *[[wikt:-o|-o]] (American devocative, later Commonwealth): [[buck]]o, [[wikt:daddio|daddio]], [[waste collector|garbo]], [[wikt:kiddo|kiddo]], [[smoko]], [[wikt:wacko|wacko]], [[wikt:Jacko|Jacko]], [[Richard|Ricko]], *[[wikt:-er#Etymology 1|-er/-ers]]/[[wikt:-ster#English|-ster]] (agentive, intensive, hýpocoristic, also elided hrotic ''-a''): [[bonkers]] (1948), [[wikt:preggers|preggers]] (1940), [[wikt:starkers|starkers]] (1905), [[Rebecca|Becker]][s], Lizzers, [[Henry|Hank]]ster, [[Patrick|Pat]]ster *[[wikt:-a#Etymology_2|-a]] ([[Geordie]] assimilative ''-er''): [[Paul Gascoigne|Gazza]], [[Paul McCartney|Macca]] *[[wikt:-z#English|-z]] ([[geordie]] degenitive ''-s''): [[Bez]], [[Chaz]], [[Gaz]] '''Loanwords:''' *[[wikt:-ling#English|-ling]] (Norse defrequentative-patrinominative): [[term of endearment|darling]], [[duck]]ling, [[fingerling]], [[goose|gosling]], [[wikt:underling|underling]] *[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-rel -erel/-rel] (Francish-Latin comparative, pejorative ''-(t)eriale''): [[cockerel]] (1450s), [[coistrel]] (1570s), [[doggerel]] (1249), [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dotterel dotterel] (15th century), [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gangrel gangrel] (14th century), [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hoggerel hoggerel], [[wikt:kestrel|kestrel]] (15th century), [http://etymonline.com/index.php?search=mackerel mackerel] (1300ish), [http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=minstrel minstrel] (1180), [[mongrel]] (1540s), [[pickerel]] (1388), [[Puck (mythology)|puckerel]], [[wikt:scoundrel|scoundrel]] (1589), suckerel, [http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~alvismal/6etym.pdf taistrel] (18th century, N for E ''tearstrel'': tear+-ster+-rel), [[tumbrel]] (1223), titterel/[[whimbrel]] (1520s), [[wikt:wastrel|wastrel]] (1847) *-el/[[wikt:-il|-il]]/[[wikt:-ille|-ille]]/-l/-le (Norman-Francish lenite -c-/-g- or metathetic -i- dim. ''-iol-''): [[wikt:broil#Etymology 1|broil]] (14th century; F ''brusle''), [[wikt:broil#Etymology 2|broil]] (15th century; VL ''brodicula''), [[griddle]] (1300ish, ME ''gridel'', F ''gredil'', VL ''graticula''; cognate with E ''[[hurdle]]''), [[grille]] (1661), [[wikt:jail|jail]] (1250s; F ''jaiole'', nF ''gaiole'', VL ''gabiola'', L ''caveola''), [[mail (armour)|mail]] (1320; L ''macula''), [[wikt:pill|pill]] (1400), [[wikt:quail|quail]] (1300ish; ML ''quaccula''), [[wikt:rail#Etymology 1|rail]] (1320; L ''regula''), [[wikt:rail#Etymology 2|rail]] (1460; VL ''rasculum''), [[wikt:rail#Etymology 3|rail]] (1450s; VL ''ragula''), [[roll]] (1300ish), [[squirrel]] (1327), [[wikt:toil|toil]] (1300ish; VL ''tudicula''), [[wikt:trail|trail]] (1300ish; VL ''tragula'') *[[wikt:-et|-et]]/[[wikt:-ette|-ette]]/[[wikt:-etti|-etti]]/[[wikt:-etto|-etto]]/[[wikt:-it|-it]]/[[wikt:-ita|-ita]]/[[wikt:-ito|-ito]]/[[wikt:-itta|-itta]] (F-S-I-L defrequentative ''-itat-''): [[amaretto]], [[burrito]], [[cigarette]], [[clarinet]], [[courgette]], [[diskette]], [[fajita]], [[falsetto]], [[faucet]] (1400ish), [[gambit]] (1656), [[kitchenette]], [[marionette]], [[minuet]], [[oubliette]], [[palette (disambiguation)|palette]], [[pallet]] (1350s), [[parquet]], [[poppet]] (1300ish), [[puppet]] (16th century), [[rabbit]] (1380), [[Sagitta]], [[wikt:señorita|señorita]], [[spaghetti]], [[suffragette]], [[wikt:swallet|swallet]] (1660ish), [[taquito]], [[towelette]], [[wallet]] (1350s) *[[wikt:-ot|-ot]]/[[wikt:-otte|-otte]] (F ablaut<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3ovPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA278|title=Apophony and Rhyme Words: III. The Suffixes: -ittus, -attus, -ottus, -iccus, -accus, -occus|author=Albert J. Carnoy|year=1917|work=American journal of philology, Volume 38|publisher=Johns Hopkins Press|pages=278–284}}</ref> or assimilative dim.-defreq. -ultat-): [[culottes]], [[harlot]] (13th century), [[Charlotte]], [[Diderot]], [[Lancelot]] (1180), [[wikt:Margot|Margot]], [[Peugeot]], [[Pierrot]] *[[wikt:-let#English|-let]]/[[wikt:-lette|-lette]] (F dim.-defreq.): [[aglet]] (15th century), [[applet]] (1995), [[wikt:booklet|booklet]] (1859), [[chicklet]] (1886), [[eyelet]] (1400), [[gauntlet (gloves)|gauntlet]], [[goblet]], [[hamlet]] (15th century), [[leaflet]] (1787), [[wikt:oillet|oillet]] (1350s), [[omelette]] (1611), [[piglet]] (1883), [[roulette]] (1734), [[tablet (disambiguation)|tablet]] (1300ish) *[[wikt:-ey|-ey]]/[[wikt:-ie#English|-ie]]/[[wikt:-y#Etymology 2|-y]] (Scottish-Dutch dim., 15th century-on): [[cookie]] (1703), [[daddy]] (1500ish), [[wikt:dearie|dearie]], [[doggy]] (1820), [[wikt:girlie|girlie]] (1942), [[kitty]] (16th century), [[laddie]] (1546), [[mammy]] (1520), [[mommy]] (1902), [[wikt:mummy#Etymology 2|mummy]] (1820), [[sissy (disambiguation)|sissy]] (1846), [[whitey]] (1820), [[Debbie]], [[Frankie]], [[wikt:Frenchy|Frenchy]] (1820), [[Johnny]] (1670), [[Marty]], [[Morty]], [[Nancy (given name)|Nancy]] *[[wikt:-kin#English|-kin]] (Dutch-Thewdish dim.-acc. ''[[wikt:-ken|-ken]]''/''[[wikt:-chen|-chen]]'', 15th century-on): [[bodkin]], [[wikt:cannikin|cannikin]], [[catkin]], [[wikt:lambkin|lambkin]], [[manikin]], [[napkin]], [[wikt:pannikin|pannikin]], [[ramekin]], [[welkin]] (OE ''wolcen'') *[[wikt:-kins|-kins]] (hýpocoristic dim.-degen.): [[Laura (name)|Laura]]kins, [[Sally]]kins *[[wikt:-leus|-leus]]/[[wikt:-ola|-ola]]/[[wikt:-ole|-ole]]/[[wikt:-oli|-oli]]/-ola/[[wikt:-olo|-olo]]/[[wikt:-olus|-olus]]/[[wikt:-ula|-ula]]/[[wikt:-ule|-ule]]/[[wikt:-uleus|-uleus]]/[[wikt:-ulum|-ulum]] (Francish-Spanish-Italian-Latin [[:la:Diminutivum (Latinum)|dim.]], mainly 17th century-on): [[alveolus]], [[areola]], [[areole]], [[wikt:article|article]], [[cannoli]], [[casserole]], [[cerulean]], [[wikt:cuniculus|cuniculus]], [[curriculum]], [[Equuleus]], [[ferrule]], [[formula]], [[granule]], [[homunculus]], [[insula]], [[malleolus]], [[capital letter|majuscule]], [[lower case|minuscule]], [[nodule]], [[nucleus]], [[nucleolus]], [[particle]], [[pergola]], [[pendulum]], [[pianola]], [[piccolo]], [[ravioli]], [[wikt:raviolo|raviolo]], [[wikt:reticle|reticle]], [[wikt:reticule|reticule]], [[wikt:reticulum|reticulum]], [[spatula]], [[tarantula]], [[vacuole]], [[vinculum]], [[vocable]] *[[wikt:-eau|-eau]]/[[wikt:-el#Old French|-el]]/[[wikt:-ella|-ella]]/[[wikt:-elle|-elle]]/[[wikt:-ello|-ello]]/-il/[[wikt:-illa|-illa]]/-ille/[[wikt:-illo|-illo]]/-le (F-S-I-L bidim.; E ''-kin''): [[armadillo]], [[wikt:beau|beau]], [[wikt:belle|belle]], [http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=bordello bordello], [[bureau (disambiguation)|bureau]], [[candle]] (OE ''candel'', <900), [[castle]] (OE ''castel'', <1000), [[codicil]], [[espadrille]], [[flotilla]], [[limoncello]], [[Mantle (clothing)|mantle]], [[Monticello]], [[wikt:morsel|morsel]], [[organelle]], [[pastel]], [[pencil]], [[pestle]], [[quadrille]], [[quarrel]], [[rowel]] (1344), [[scintilla]], [[vanilla]], [[violoncello]] *[[wikt:-ina|-ina]]/[[wikt:-ine|-ine]]/[[wikt:-ini|-ini]]/[[wikt:-ino#Italian|-ino]] (F-S-I simulative, mainly 1750s-on; E ''[[wikt:-like|-like]]'' or ''-ling'' as adj. but cognate with ''[[wikt:-ing#Etymology 3|-ing]]'' as n. or adj.): [[bambino]], [[coquina]], [[doctrine]] (1350s), [[domino]], [[farina]], [[figurine]], [[linguine]], [[maraschino]], [[marina]], [[neutrino]], [[palomino]], [[tambourine]], [[zucchini]] *[[wikt:mini-|mini-]] (commercial ''miniature'' compound): [[minibar]], [[miniblind]], [[miniboss]], [[minibus]], [[Mini#Mark I Mini: 1959–1967|minicar]] (1949), [[minicassette]] (1967), [[minicomputer]] (1963), [[minigame]], [[minigun]], [[minimall]], [[wikt:minimarket|minimarket]] (1965), [[wikt:minimart|minimart]], [[mini-nuke]], [[minischool]], [[miniseries]] (1974), [[miniskirt]] (1965), [[computer case|minitower]], [[minivan]], [[wikt:miniver|miniver]] (1250), [[mini-LP]], [[wikt:mini-me|mini-me]], [[MiniDisc]] ====Scots==== {{see also|List of English words of Scots origin}} In [[Scots language|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 (stream)|burn]]), feardie or feartie (frightened person, coward), gamie (gamekeeper), kiltie ([[kilt]]ed 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 language|Dutch]], the diminutive is formed by adding one of the [[affix|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 [[noun]]s, 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 ''[[flower bouquet|bouquet]]'') A few words also exist solely in a diminutive form, e.g. zeepaardje ("[[seahorse]]") and sneeuwklokje ("[[Galanthus|Snowdrop]]"). [[:nl:wikt:Categorie:Zelfstandig verkleinwoord|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 [[affix|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 → nef'''ie''' (''nephew''), lag → lagg'''ie''' (''laugh''), skaap → skap'''ie''' (''sheep'') * '''-pie''' for words ending in -m: boom (''tree'') → boom'''pie''' * '''-kie''' for words ending in -ing: koning (''king'') → konin'''kie''' *'''-′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 → hoed'''jie''' (hat) * '''-etjie''' for [[Cvc#Linguistics|CVC]] words ending in -b, -l, -m, -n or -r: bal → ball'''etjie''' (ball), kam → kamm'''etjie''' (comb), kar → karr'''etjie''' (car) * '''-tjie''' for most other words: soen → soen'''tjie''' (kiss), koei → koei'''tjie''' (cow), appel → appel'''tjie''' (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 language|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. beet'''je''', a [little] bit, mand'''je''', basket) as compared to -ie in Afrikaans (e.g. bietj'''ie''', mandj'''ie'''—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 language|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. They are always neutral as for [[grammatical gender]]. 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. There are two suffixes that can be systematically applied in German: * ''-chen'', e.g. "Männchen" for little man (corresponding with English ''-kin'' as seen in "munchkin", [[Low German|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'' (Spaetz''lé''), ''-li'' (Hörn''li''), [[Austrian Dialect|Bavarian and Austrian]] ''-l'', and [[Latin]] ''-culus'/''-cula'') Suffixation of the diminutive suffixes –chen and –lein to a finally stressed [[word stem]] causes [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]] of the stressed vowel. =====Austro-Bavarian===== In [[Austro-Bavarian|Bavarian and Austrian German]], the -l or -erl suffix can replace almost any usual German diminutive. For example, the normal 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. =====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 Spanish, these may be formed similarly, e.g. ''igualito'' — diminutive of ''igual'', ''same''). =====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 dimunitive 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 [[German language|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 (diacritic)|umlaut]] in combination with the suffixes -gie(n): * man → mānnegie ([[English language|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]]. ====Yiddish==== [[Yiddish language|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 languages|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 (linguistics)|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): roylekher (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 [[Israel]]i [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: Imma (mother) to Immaleh and Abba (father) to Abbaleh. ====Icelandic==== A common diminutive suffix in [[Icelandic language|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 language|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, *kondom → kådis ([[condom]]) ===Romance languages=== ====French==== [[French language|French]] diminutives can be formed with a wide range of endings. Often, a consonant or phoneme is placed between the [[root (linguistics)|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 [[suppletion|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 [[wikt:-oc|-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 language|Italian]], the diminutive for people is usually expressed by trading masculine (usually ''-o'') to '''-ino''' and feminine (usually ''-a'') to '''-ina''', whereas for inanimate objects, the pattern is ''-o'' to '''-etto''' and ''-a'' to '''-etta'''. '''-[c]ello''', '''-[c]ella''', '''-[c,u]olo''', and '''-[c,u]ola''' also exist, though often as the result of the italicization of words from older [[Romance languages]]. The new word is then pluralized as a word in its own right. The animate/inanimate rule is extremely loose. Examples which have made it into English are mostly [[culinary]], like [[linguine]] (named for its resemblance to little [[tongue]]s ("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]]", whereas "signorino" would be a [[pejorative]] belittling of a [[man]], same meanings as ''señorita'' and ''señorito'' in Spanish. Other standard and [[productive (linguistics)|productive]] endings are sometimes considered diminutives but are rather Latin reflexes of the primary demonstrative affixes -[h]ic(c)-, -[h]a[e]c(c)-, -[h]oc(c)-, and -[h]unc- (In Englisc: thes, theos, and this; see [[wikt:-aceus|-aceus]], [[wikt:-aculus|-aculus]], [[wikt:-unculus|-unculus]]—and English borrowings -aceous, -acle, -uncle), often with definitive (''-iccio'', ''-iccia''), pejorative (''-accio'', ''-accia''), and meliorative (''-uccio'', ''-uccia'') connotations. The English demonstrative affixes would be ablauts of -one: -on, -un, -en (''big-un'', ''[[wikt:littlun|littlun]]'', ''littl'un'', ''little-un''); but this is colloquial and seldom. -acci-, -icci-, and -ucci- may be compounded with a proper diminutive -ol- or -ott- (-ck or -kle) or [[augmentative#Italian|augmentative]]: orso (bear) → orsacchiotto ([bear] cub); porto (ford) → porticiattolo ([marina/mooring] dock); uomo (man) → omaccione (mannart, mannard). Moreover, -occi- and -ucci- in the same constructions had been borrowed from the [[Old German]] proper diminutives [[wikt:-oc|-oc]] and -uc but went on to mean endearedness, in the way -ling or -kin may. ====Latin==== {{main|:la:Diminutivum (Latinum)}} In the [[Latin|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 [[wikt:ille|ille]], illa, illud (illum-[[wikt:de#Latin|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 [[Latin conjugation#First conjugation|first conjugation]], no matter what the original conjugation. ''Conscribere'' "write onto" is [[Latin conjugation#Third conjugation|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 [[wikt:vacuole|vacuole]] from ''vacuolum'', [[wikt:particle|particle]] from ''particula'', and [[wikt:globule|globule]] from ''globulus''. ====Portuguese==== In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], diminutives can be formed with a wide range of endings but the [[Portuguese_grammar#Diminutives_and_augmentatives|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 [[pronoun]]s (''pouco'', a little → ''pouquinho'' or ''poucochinho'', a very small amount), [[adjective]]s (e.g. ''bobo'' → ''bobinho'', meaning respectively "silly" and "a bit silly"; ''só'' → ''sozinho'', both meaning "alone" or "all alone"), [[adverb]]s (''depressinha'', "quickly") and even [[verb]]s (''correndo'' → ''correndinho'', both of which mean "running", but the latter with an endearing connotation). ====Romanian==== [[Romanian language|Romanian]] uses suffixes to create diminutives, most of these suffixes being of [[Latin]] or [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} origin. Not only names, but adjectives, adverbs and pronouns can have diminutives as well, as in Portuguese, Polish and Russian. '''Feminine suffixes''' *-ia (jucărie / jucăria = toy) *-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 adress children respectfully in a non-familial context) nimic ( nothing)> nimicuța nițel (a little something) ====Spanish==== {{Seealso|Spanish naming customs}} [[Spanish language|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 language|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.<ref>[http://www.lituanus.org/1974/74_3_05.htm Studies on word-formation in Lithuanian (1944-1974), Antanas Klimas, [[University of Rochester]]]</ref> Lithuanian diminutives are especially prevalent in poetic language, such as [[Folk music|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) ===Slavic languages=== ====Bulgarian==== :''See also: [[Bulgarian language#Diminutives and augmentatives]]'' [[Bulgarian language|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 → kufarche → kufarchentse (a suitcase) * nozh → nozhche → nozhchentse (a knife) * stol → stolche → stolchentse (a chair) Feminine nouns can have up to three different, independent forms (though some of them are used only in [[Colloquialism|colloquial speech]]): * zhena → zhenica → zhenichka (a woman) * riba → ribka → ribchitsa (a fish) * saksiya → saksiyka → saksiychitsa (a flowerpot) * glava → glаvitsa → glavichka (a head) Note, that the suffixes can be any of '''-ка''' (-ka), '''-чка''' (-chka), and '''-ца''' (-tsa). Neuter nouns can have only one diminutive suffix -ntse. * dete → detentse (a child) * prase → prasentse (a pig) ====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 * Ana (''Anne'') → Anica Masculine: * konj (''horse'') → konjić * sin (''son'') → sinčić * nos (''nose'') → nosić Neuter: * pero (''feather'') → perce * sunce (''sun'') → sunašce * jezero (''lake'') → jezerce ====Czech==== In [[Czech language|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'''/ (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 language|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]].<ref>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 [http://www.plc.psychologia.pl/plc/contents/fulltext/07-1_3.pdf (pdf)]</ref> 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 [[neologism]]s. 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 Old Polish ''córa'' which nowadays isn't in use.) * ''kaczka (duck)'' → kaczuszka, kaczusia, kaczunia * ''Katarzyna (Katherine)'' → Kasia, Kaśka, Kasieńka, Kasiunia, Kasiulka, Kasiuleczka, Kasiuneczka * ''Anna (Anna)'' → Ania, Anka, Ańcia, Andzia, Anusia, Anuśka, Aneczka, Anulka, Anuleczka * ''Małgorzata (Margaret)'' → Małgorzatka, Małgosia, Małgośka, Gosia, Gośka, 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<ref name="miod"/> * ''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<ref name="miod"/> * ''prędzej (faster)'' → prędziusiej * ''fajnie'' → fajniusio * ''super'' → supcio '''Verbs''' * ''płakać (to weep)'' → płakuniać, płakuńciać, płakusiać<ref name="miod">[[Jan Miodek]], "PIENIĄŻKI DLA MAŁŻONKI", Wiedza i Zycie, 1, 1998. http://archiwum.wiz.pl/1998/98013200.asp (copy)</ref> ====Russian==== [[Russian language|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 affecionate 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 diminutuve ones. The well known word 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 benevolance in the speech or on the contrary to express superciliousness, depending on the inflection of a whole phrase. Some diminutives of proper names, [[Hypocoristic#Russian|among many others]]: '''Feminine''' * Anastasia → Nastia (as in [[Nastia Liukin]]), Nastenka * 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 (name)|Sasha]], Sashka, Sahen'ka, Sashechka * Aleksey → Aliosha (as in [[Alyosha Popovich]]), Alioshka, Alioshen'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==== In [[Scottish Gaelic]] diminutives are used much more frequently than in English. This is a feature that it shares with [[Scots language]], and may have influenced, the suffixes "-ag" and "-ock" in that language. The most common diminutives are * -''(e)ag'', feminine: Mor ("Sarah") → Morag, [[Loch Ness|Loch Nis]] (Loch Ness) → Niseag ("[[Loch Ness Monster|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 {{polytonic|-ιο-, -ισκο-/-ισκᾱ-, -ιδ-ιο-, -αρ-ιο-}}.<ref>[[Herbert Weir Smyth]]. ''A Greek grammar for colleges''. page 235, paragraph 852: diminutives.</ref> {| class="wikitable polytonic" style="text-align: center;" ! colspan="2" | original noun !! colspan="2" | diminutive |- | βύβλος<br>býblos || "[[papyrus]]" || βιβλ'''ίο'''ν<br>bibl'''ío'''n || "paper", "book" |- | ἄνθρωπος<br>ánthrōpos || "person" || ἀνθρωπ'''ίσκο'''ς<br>anthrōp'''ísko'''s || "manikin" |- | ξίφος<br>xíphos || "sword" || ξιφ'''ίδιο'''ν<br>xiph'''ídio'''n || "dagger" |- | παιδ-<br>paid-<ref>{{LSJ|pai{{=}}s|παῖς}}</ref> || "child" || παιδ'''άριο'''ν<br>paid'''ário'''n || "little child" |} ====Modern Greek==== Diminutives are very common in [[Modern Greek language|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 [[surname]]s, originally meaning the offspring of a certain person, e.g. Παπάς/Papas "priest" with Παπαδάκης/Papadacis as the surname. ===Indic languages=== ====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 ====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. '''Maculine''' : * Abhijit (अभिजित) → Abhya (अभ्या) * Rajendra (राजेंद्र) → Rajya (राज्या), Raju (राजू) '''Feminine''' : * Ashwini (अश्विनी) → Ashu (अशू) * Namrata (नम्रता) → Namee (नमी), Namu (नमू) ====Sinhala==== In [[Sinhala language|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 language|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]]) ==Dravidian languages== ====Tamil==== *Ramanathan, Ramalingam: Ramu *Adhiseshan: Seshu *Somanathan, Somaskanthan: Somu *SuryaNarayanan: Surya *Sivalingam: Siva *Nanthakumar, Nandikesan: Nandhu *Padmini: Padi ===Telugu=== *Srinivas: Seenu ==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" → [[Kuwait|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 to mark diminutive forms. * kélev כלב (dog) : klavláv כלבלב (puppy) * xatúl חתול (cat) : xataltúl חתלתול (kitten) * bacál בצל (onion) : bcalcál בצלצל (small onion) * adóm אדום (red) : adamdám אדמדם (slightly red) * dag דג (fish) : dagig דגיג (small fish) * sak שק (sac) : sakík שקיק (small bag; 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, condom) * yéled ילד (kid) : yaldón ילדון (young kid) * sak שק (sac) : sakít שקית (bag; e.g. 'sakít plástik', a plastic bag) * kaf כף (tablespoon) : kapít כפית (teaspoon) ==Sino-Tibetan languages== ===Chinese=== [[Chinese name|Personal names]] in [[Chinese language|Chinese]], excluding the [[family name]], are usually two [[Chinese character|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 [[Northern and southern China|Southern China]]) to produce an affectionate, diminutive name. For example, famous [[Cantopop]] singer [[Andy Lau|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.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=Y9B4IgAACAAJ&dq=Chinese+jerry+norman</ref> In the [[Standard Cantonese|Cantonese]] dialect, the suffix 仔 ''-zăi'' 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 or ''Huázăi''. 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 language|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|Turkey's]] [[Turkish Armed Forces|soldiers]], see also [[Mehmetçik Tower|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 "-kka" and "-nen" are not universal, and cannot be used on every noun. The feature is common in Finnish [[surname]]s, 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. lapsu''ka''i''nen'' (child, not a baby anymore), lapso''nen'' (small child), lapsi (child) ===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'' → ''kuty'''us''''' (dog), ''cica'' → ''cic'''us''''' (cat) **''-ci'': ''medve'' → ''ma'''ci''''' (bear), ''borjú'' → ''bo'''ci''''' (calf) *Names **''-i'': ''János'' (John) → ''Jan'''i''''', ''Júlia'' → ''Jul'''i''''', ''Kata'' → ''Kat'''i''''', ''Mária'' → ''Mar'''i''''', ''Sára'' → ''Sár'''i''''' **''-csi'': ''János'' → ''Jan'''csi''''' **''-ika/ike'': ''Júlia'' → ''Jul'''ika''''', ''Mária'' → ''Mar'''ika''''' **''-iska/iske'': ''Júlia'' → ''Jul'''iska''''', ''Mária'' → ''Mar'''iska''''' **''-us'': ''Béla'' → ''Bél'''us''''' **''-ci'': ''Béla'' → ''Bé'''ci''''', ''László'' → ''La'''ci''''', ''Júlia'' → ''Ju'''ci''''' **''-có'': ''Ferenc'' → ''Fe'''có''''', ''József'' → ''Jo'''có''''' **''-tya'': ''Péter'' → ''Pe'''tya''''', ''Zoltán'' → ''Zo'''tya''''' **''-nyi'': ''Sándor'' (Alexander) → ''Sa'''nyi''''' 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. ''kutyus'''ka''''' (little doggy), ''cicus'''ka''''' (little kitty). Theoretically, more and more diminutive forms can be created this way, e.g. ''kutyuská'''cskácska''''' (little doggy-woggy-snoggy). Of course, this is not a common practice; the preferred translations are ''kutyuli'''mutyuli''''' (doggy-woggy) and ''cica'''mica''''' (kitty-witty). In some cases, the diminutive suffix has become part of the basic form. These are no longer regarded as diminutive forms: *Animals: ''cin'''ke''''' (tit), ''ró'''ka''''' (fox), ''csó'''ka''''' (jackdaw), ''puly'''ka''''' (turkey), ''csir'''ke''''' (chicken) You can use the adjectives ''kicsi'' or ''kis'' (little) to create diminutive forms of these nouns, e.g. '''''kicsi''' macska'' or '''''kis'''macska'' (kitten). ==International auxiliary languages== ===Esperanto=== : ''See also [[Esperanto vocabulary#Word formation|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 [[Style (manner of address)|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" is not "pup", but rather "puppy" (little dog), and "hundido" means "pup" (young dog). ===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== {{reflist}} ==See also== {{wiktionary|diminutive}} * [[Augmentative]] * [[Hypocoristic]] * [[Affect (linguistics)]] [[Category:Linguistic morphology]] [[Category:Suffixes]] [[af:Verkleinwoord]] [[als:Diminutiv]] [[an:Diminutivo]] [[ca:Diminutiu]] [[cs:Zdrobnělina]] [[de:Diminutiv]] [[es:Diminutivo]] [[eo:Diminutivo]] [[fa:مصغر (دستور زبان)]] [[fr:Diminutif]] [[gl:Diminutivo]] [[he:צורת הקטנה]] [[la:Diminutivum]] [[lt:Deminutyvas]] [[nl:Verkleinwoord]] [[ja:縮小辞]] [[no:Diminutiv]] [[nds:Diminutiv]] [[pl:Zdrobnienie]] [[pt:Diminutivo]] [[ksh:Diminutiv]] [[ru:Диминутив]] [[simple:Diminutive]] [[sk:Zdrobnenina]] [[sr:Деминутив]] [[fi:Deminutiivi]] [[sv:Diminutiv]] [[wa:Raptitixhante cawete]] [[zh:指小]]'