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A diminutive 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. A word is a unit of Language that carries meaning and consists of one or more Morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together and has a Phonetic It is the opposite of an augmentative. An augmentative is a suffix or prefix added to a Noun in order to convey the sense of greater intensity often though not primarily indicating a larger While many languages apply the grammatical diminutive to nouns, a few also use it for adjectives and even other parts of speech. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the

Diminutives are often used for affection (see nickname and hypocoristic). A nickname is a Name of an entity or thing that is not its Proper name. A hypocoristic, hypocorism, or hypochorisma (from Greek el ὑποκορίζεσθαι el-Latn hypokorizesthai, "to use child-talk" 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 but not essentially conveyed through smaller size. An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word 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. A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or Paralinguistics.

In many languages formation of diminutives by suffixes is a regular part of grammar. In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word 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. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Romulus Augustus (c 461/463 &ndash after 476 sometimes known as Romulus Augustulus ( Little Augustus) was the last Western Roman Emperor reigning from

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Germanic languages

English

Diminutives are common in most dialects of English. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Terms such as "undies" for underwear and "movie" for "moving picture" are frequently heard terms in English. Undergarments are clothes worn under other clothes often next to the skin 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. )

English has also borrowed liberally from other languages when producing new diminutives, e. g. -ette is from French.

Common diminutives are:

Scots

In Lowland Scots diminutives are used much more frequently than in English. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased A cigarette ( French "small Cigar " from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through Smoking and manufactured A kitchenette is a cooking area in Motel and Hotel rooms small apartments, college dormitories, or office buildings Suffragette is a term originally coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for the more radical and Militant members of the An applet is a software component that runs in the context of another program for example a Web browser. Grommets and eyelets are Metal, Plastic, or Rubber rings that are inserted into a hole made through another material For duck as a food see Duck (food; for other meanings see Duck (disambiguation. David Robert Joseph Beckham, and is also a member of the England national team. Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942 is an English rock Singer, Bass guitarist songwriter Composer, Paul John Gascoigne (born 27 May 1967 in Dunston, Gateshead, England) often referred to as Gazza, is a retired English "Smoko" (also "smoke-o" or "smoke-oh") is a term used in Australian English, New Zealand English and Falkland Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern The diminutive is formed by the suffix -ie, -ock, -ockie or –ag (the latter from Scottish Gaelic, and probably influencing the other two before it). An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. -ie is by far the most common prefix used.

Examples include:

See also: List of English words of Scots origin

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". In Scotland, Northern England and some parts of Ireland, burn is a name for watercourses from large Streams to small Rivers The Coward redirects here For other meanings including as a surname see Coward (disambiguation. For the comic book series see Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper. A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper) is a person who looks after The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century The Loch Ness Monster ( Nessiteras rhombopteryx) is an alleged animal family and upward Incertae sedis, purportedly inhabiting Scotland 's Loch Ness Loch Ness ( Scottish Gaelic: Loch Nis) is a large deep freshwater Loch in the Scottish Highlands ( extending for approximately 37 km (23 miles For the electronic mail software see GNU Mailman. "Postman" redirects here This article is about playthings For other uses of the term see Toy (disambiguation. Common sorrel ( Rumex acetosa) also known as spinach dock, is a perennial herb that is cultivated as a garden Herb or Geordie (ˈdʒɔrdi is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of England, or the name of the Dialect of English Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. List of English words of Scots origin is a list of English language words of Lowland Scots origin The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Diminutives are more frequently used than in English. They are always neutral as for grammatical gender. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong Some words only exist in the diminutive form, e. g. "Kaninchen" ("rabbit"). 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:

Suffixation of the diminutive suffixes –chen and –lein to a finally stressed word stem causes umlaut of the stressed vowel. Austrian German ( Österreichisches Deutsch, Austrian Standard German) is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. In Linguistics, a stem (sometimes also theme) is the part of a word that is common to all its inflected variants In Linguistics, umlaut (from German um - "around"/"the other way" + Laut "sound" is a process whereby a

In Bavarian and Austrian German, the -l or -erl suffix can replace almost any usual German diminutive. Austro-Bavarian or Bavarian is a major group of Upper German varieties. 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 very common 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. Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart ( July 30, 1751 – October 29, 1829) nicknamed " Nannerl " was a famous musician in

In Swabian German this is done by adding a -lé suffix (the è being distinctly pronounced, but not stressed). Swabian ( Schwäbisch) is one of the Alemannic dialects of High German, spoken in the region of Swabia. For example, a small house would be a "Häuslé" or a little girl a "Mädlé". The special of Swabian is that not only nouns may be suffixed with -lé, which has no counterpart in other German dialects, High German, or other languages: waselé (diminutive of was, what) or jetztlé (diminutive of jetzt, now) or kommelé (diminutive of kommen, come). (In Spanish, these may be formed similarly, i. e. igualito — diminutive of igual, same).

Low German

In East Frisian Low Saxon, -je, -tje, and -pje are used as a diminutive suffix (e. East Frisian Low Saxon is a West Low German Dialect spoken in the East Frisian peninsula of northwestern Lower Saxony. g. huis becomes huisje (little house); boom becomes boompje (little tree)). 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 (on which more below).

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). West Low German (also known as Low Saxon) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in western portions of the German state of Lower Saxony Diaeresis or trema See also Diaeresis History Historically the diaeresis mark or trema is far older than the umlaut mark Examples:

Compare this with the German suffix -chen

In Northern Low Saxon, the -je diminutive is rarely used, except maybe Gronings, such as in Buscherumpje, a fisherman's shirt. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Northern Low Saxon (in Low German Noordneddersassisch) is a West Low German dialect It is usually substituted with lütte, meaning "little", as in dat lütte Huus- the small house. The same goes for the North Germanic languages. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages

Dutch

In Dutch, the diminutive is formed by adding one of the suffixes-je, tje, -pje, -etje, -kje, -ke, -eke, -ske, -ie to the noun in question. An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word The forms -ke, eke, -ske, -ie are not used in official spelling.

In Dutch, not only nouns can get a diminutive but also adjectives and adverbs. The noun however will remain able to be used together with (in)definite articles. An article is a stand-alone section of a larger written work These nonfictional Prose compositions appear in Magazines Newspapers Academic journals In this case -s is added. Some examples;

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

There are also a number of words that exist solely in a diminutive form.

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

(I had to wait an hour in line before it was my turn. )

(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. An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word Diminutives are extremely widely used in the Afrikaans language. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in In some cases the diminutive is the most commonly used, or even only form of the word. For example bietjie (a [little] bit), mandjie (basket) or 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.

Diminutives of words that are themselves diminutives are used, for example baadjietjie (little jacket).

Words ending in -f, -g, -k, -p or -s add ie.

Words ending in -m add pie.

Words ending in -ing drop the g and add kie.

Words ending in -i, -o, or -u add ′tjie. These are often words borrowed from other languagues.

Words ending in -d or -t take jie

Consonant-vowel-consonent words ending in -b, -l, -m, -n or -r add etjie.

Most other words add tjie.

Exceptions to the rules include:-

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 change 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" (part) - "teylekhl" (particle), "regn" (rain) - "regndl", "hant" (hand) - "hentl", "fus" (foot) - "fisl". The longer version of the suffix ("-ele" instead of "-l") sound generally more affectionate and ussualy 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:

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):

Some Yiddish diminutives has been incorporated into modern Israeli Hebrew. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. "Imma" (mother) is "Immaleh" and "Abba" (father) is "Abbaleh. "

Swedish

A common diminutive suffix in Swedish is -is:

Note that the usage of -is is not limited to child-related or "cute" things. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Day care or child care is care of a child during the Day by a person other than the child's Parents or Legal guardians typically someone outside ( German, literally means "children's garden" is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling For instance:

Latin and Romance languages

Latin

In the Latin language the diminutive is formed also by suffixes affixed to the word stem. A condom is a device most commonly used during Sexual intercourse. In Linguistics, a stem (sometimes also theme) is the part of a word that is common to all its inflected variants The grammatical gender remains unchanged.

Similarly, the diminutive of gladius (sword) is gladiolus, a plant whose leaves look like small swords. Gladius is a Latin word for Sword. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks Gladiolus (from Latin, the Diminutive of gladius, a Sword) is a Genus of Flowering plants in the iris family Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis.

Adjectives as well as nouns can be diminished, including paululus (very small) from paulus (small). In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the

The verbal diminutive in Latin fixes -ill- to the verb before the personal ending, always changing it to the first conjugation. For English usage of verbs see the wiki article English verbs. Conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a Verb from its basic forms or Principal parts. An example is conscribillo (scribble over), the diminutive of conscribo (write onto) of which the infinitive is conscribillare, despite the infinitive of conscribo being conscribere (third conjugation). In Grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages Conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a Verb from its basic forms or Principal parts.

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 changing them to a silent 'e'. Hence some examples are vacuole from vacuolum, particle from particula and globule from globulus. In general vacuole functions include Removing unwanted structural debris Isolating materials that might be harmful or a threat to the cell Containing [1]

French

French diminutives usually end in -ette, such as fillette (young girl) or courgette (small marrow) and this frequently carries over into English as well. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Zucchini ( in North American and Australian English) or courgette (/kʊǝrˈʒɛt/ or in New Zealand and British English While informal French often produces diminutive effects simply by cutting a word in half (McDo from McDonalds, fixs from fixations 'ski bindings'), the ending -oche is sometimes used. For example, cinoche (ciné) and MacDoche (McDonalds).

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.

Italian

In Italian, the diminutive for people is usually expressed by changing 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. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. -ello and -ella also exist, though often as the result of the italicization of words from other Romance languages. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all 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 tongues ("lingue", in Italian)), and bruschetta. Culinary art is the Art of Cooking. The word "culinary" is defined as something related to or connected with cooking or Kitchens A culinarian Linguine (also spelled linguini, which is an anglicisation are a form of Pasta — flat like Fettuccine and Trenette, but narrow like Spaghetti The tongue is the large bundle of Skeletal muscles on the floor of the Mouth that manipulates Food for chewing and swallowing (deglutition Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Bruschetta (pron brus'ket'ta in English /bɾu'sketta/ in Italian is a food whose origin dates to at least the 15th century from Central Italy. The diminution is often figurative: an operetta is similar to an opera, but dealing with less serious topics. Operetta is a genre of light Opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto "Signorina" means "Miss", whereas "signorino" would be a pejorative belittling of a man, same meanings as señorita and señorito in Spanish. Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt A man is a Male Human. The term man (irregular plural The augmentative also exists: -one. An augmentative is a suffix or prefix added to a Noun in order to convey the sense of greater intensity often though not primarily indicating a larger

Portuguese

In Portuguese, the most common diminutives are formed with the suffixes -(z)inho, -(z)inha, replacing the masculine and feminine endings -o and -a, respectively. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Portuguese grammar, the morphology and Syntax of the Portuguese language, is similar to the Grammar of most other Romance languages 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. In Linguistics and Grammar, a pronoun is a Pro-form that substitutes for a (including a noun phrase consisting of a single Noun) with or In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the g. tonto → tontinho, 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). For English usage of verbs see the wiki article English verbs.

Romanian

Romanian uses suffixes to create diminutives, most of these suffixes being of Latin or Slavic origin.

Feminine

Masculine

Spanish

See also: Spanish naming customs

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

Other less common suffixes are;

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

Sometimes alternating different suffixes can change the meaning.


Slavic languages

Bulgarian

See also: Bulgarian language#Diminutives and Augmentatives

Bulgarian has an extended diminutive system. Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group

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

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

Note, that the suffixes can be any of -ka, -chka, -tsa.

Neuter nouns can have only one diminutive suffix -ntse.

Czech

In Czech diminutives are formed by suffixes, as in other Slavic languages. Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages 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). Diminutives can be diminuted further by adding another diminutive suffix. E. g. : "Júlie" (Julia), "Julka" (little Julia), "Júlinka" (very little Julia). Czech diminutives can also express familiarity, meliorative, and affection. Hence, "Julka" may well mean "our", "cute" or "beloved" Julia.

Example: "k-diminutives"

/-ka/ (feminine noun forms)

/-ko/ (neuter noun forms)

/-ek/ (masculine noun forms)

/-ík/

Other common diminutive suffixes are /-inka/, /-enka/, /-ečka/, /-ička/, /-ul-/, /-unka/, /-íček/, /-ínek/ etc. Note the various stem mutations, such as palatalization, vowel shortening or vowel lengthening.

Polish

In Polish there are multiple affixes used to create the diminutive. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Some of them are -ka, -czka, -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. In many cases, the possibilities for creation of diminutives are seemingly endless. Some examples:

Feminine

Masculine

Neuter

Plural

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 palatalisation.

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. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Diminutive forms for nouns are usually distinguished with an -ik, -ok (-yok) (masculine gender), -chk-/-shk- and -on’k-/-en’k- suffixes. For example, "voda" (вода;, "water") becomes "vodichka" (водичка, "little water"), "kot" (кот, "male cat") becomes "kotik" (котик), "koshka" (кошка, "female cat") becomes "koshechka" (кошечка), "solntse" (солнце, "sun", neuter) becomes "solnyshko" (солнышко). Often there are many diminutive forms: "mama" (мама, "mom") becomes "mamochka" (мамочка), "mamen’ka" (маменька), etc.

A number of diminutives have a separate and sometimes metaphoric meaning; the word "vodka" ("водка") literally means "little water", and "limonka" ("лимонка", "little lemon") can signify a pear or a hand grenade. Vodka is one of the world's most popular Distilled beverages It is a clear liquid which consists of mostly Water and Ethanol purified by Distillation

Adjectives and adverbs can also have diminutive forms with suffix -en’k-: "siniy" (синий, "blue") becomes "sinen’kiy" (синенький), "bystro" (быстро, "quickly") becomes "bystren’ko" (быстренько). Some diminutives of proper names, among many others:

Celtic languages

Irish

The Irish language has a number of diminutives. A hypocoristic, hypocorism, or hypochorisma (from Greek el ὑποκορίζεσθαι el-Latn hypokorizesthai, "to use child-talk" Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish.

The most common diminutives are:

-(e)og - A feminine diminutive;
-an/in - A masculine diminutive.

Scottish Gaelic

In Scottish Gaelic diminutives are used much more frequently than in English. Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. This is a feature that it shares with Scots language, and may have influenced, the suffixes "-ag" and "-ock" in that language. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern

The most common diminutives are:

-(e)ag - A feminine diminutive;
-(e)an - A masculine diminutive.

e. g.

Other Indo-European languages

Greek

Several diminutive derivational suffixes existed in Classical Greek. A Bodach (Irish; plural Bodaich) is a mythical spirit or creature rather like the Bogeyman. The most common ones were: -ιο, -ισκο, -ιδιο, -αριο.

Diminutives are also very common in Modern Greek. Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit Literally every noun has its corresponding diminutive. They express small size (σπίτι-spiti 'house', σπιτάκι-spitaki 'little house'; λάθος-lathos 'mistake', λαθάκι-lathaki 'negligeable mistake') or affection (μάνα-mana 'mother', μανούλα-manoula 'mommy'). The most common suffixes are -άκης (-akis) and -ούλης (-oulis) for the male gender, -ίτσα (-itsa) and -ούλα (-oula) for the female gender, and -άκι (-aki) for the neutral gender. Several of them are common as suffixes of surnames, originally meaning the offspring of a certain person, e. A surname is a name added to a Given name and is part of a Personal name. g. Παπάς 'priest' Παπαδάκης Papadakis (surname).

Hindi

In Hindi and related languages like Marathi, proper nouns are made diminutive with -u. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. This is of course most often applied to children's names, though lifelong nicknames can result:

Sinhala

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

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. Prefixes 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. [2] Lithuanian diminutives are especially prevalent in poetic language, such as folk songs. Examples:

Persian

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

Other less used ones are -izeh and -zheh.

Other natural languages

Arabic

In Modern Standard Arabic the usual diminutive pattern is Fu`ayL (CuCayC), with or without the feminine -ah added. For the drug referred to as "pigment" see Black tar heroin. A bronchus (plural bronchi, adjective bronchial) is a caliber of airway in the Respiratory tract that conducts air into the Lungs No Gas Literary Arabic (ar اللغة العربية الفصحى "the Eloquent Arabic language" or Standard Arabic is the literary and standard variety

Chinese

Personal names in Chinese, not including the family name, are usually two characters in length. The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed Personal Names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. A family name or last name is a type of Surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese ( Often, the first of the two characters is omitted and replaced with the character 小 xiǎo, literally meaning "little", to produce an affectionate, diminutive name. A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese (

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 surnames, f. A surname is a name added to a Given name and is part of a Personal name. e. 'Jokinen' could translate 'Riverling', bur since this form is not used in speaking about rivers, the surname could also mean 'lands by the river' or 'lives by the river'. Double diminutives also occur in certain words f. e. lapsukainen (child, not a baby anymore), lapsonen (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 cannot have the diminutive form of your name registered officially. 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:

Turkish

See also Turkish grammar. The Jackdaw ( Corvus monedula) sometimes known as the Eurasian Jackdaw, European Jackdaw or caddow, is one of the smallest species (34–39  The European Magpie ( Pica pica) is a resident breeding Bird throughout Europe, much of Asia, and northwest Africa. The swallows and martins are a group of Passerine Birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial This article concerns the Grammar of the Turkish language. A companion to this article is Turkish vocabulary.

Turkish diminutive suffixes are -cik and -cegiz (-cegiz):

Constructed or auxiliary languages

Esperanto

See also Esperanto word formation. The word base of Esperanto was originally defined by Lingvo internacia published by Zamenhof in 1887

For generic use (for living beings and inanimate objects), Esperanto has a single diminutive suffix, -et. is by far the most widely spoken constructed International auxiliary language in the world

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.

Whereas languages such as Spanish may use the diminutive to denote offspring, as in "perrito" (puppy), Esperanto has a dedicated and regular suffix, "-id" used for this purpose. Thus "hundeto" is not "puppy", but rather "little dog", but "hundido" means "puppy" (dog-offspring).

Interlingua

See also Free word-building in Interlingua. Words can be included in Interlingua in either of two ways by establishing their internationality or by deriving them using Interling Free derivation and compounding

Interlingua has a single diminutive suffix, -ett, for diminutives of all sorts. Interlingua is an International auxiliary language (IAL developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA

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:

References

  1. ^ For more information on Latin diminutives see Diminutivum (Latinum) (in Latin)
  2. ^ STUDIES ON WORD-FORMATION IN LITHUANIAN (1944-1974), ANTANAS KLIMAS, University of Rochester

See also

A hypocoristic, hypocorism, or hypochorisma (from Greek el ὑποκορίζεσθαι el-Latn hypokorizesthai, "to use child-talk" An augmentative is a suffix or prefix added to a Noun in order to convey the sense of greater intensity often though not primarily indicating a larger

Dictionary

diminutive

-adjective

  1. Very small.
  2. Serving to diminish.

-noun

  1. (grammar) A word form expressing smallness or youth.
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