Indo-European languages
Germanic languages
English
English has a great variety of historical diminutives adopted from other languages but many of these are=Native English endings that could be seen as diminutives
= *-k/ -ock/-uck:Turkic languages
Turkish
:''See also Turkish grammar'' Turkish language, Turkish diminutive suffixes are ''-cik'' and ''-ceğiz'', and variants thereof as dictated by the Turkish phonology#Consonant assimilation, consonant assimilation and 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'', also Köyceğiz, a place name) *kadın (''woman'') → kadıncağız (''poor dear woman'') *çocuk (''child'') → çocukçağız (''poor dear child'') *kedi (''cat'') → kedicik (''cute little cat, kitten'') *köpek (''dog'') → köpecik (''cute little dog, puppy'') *kitap (''book'') kitapçık (''little book, pamphlet'') It's not common, but some adjectives may also have diminutives. * küçük (''little'') → küçücük (''tiny'') * sıcak (''hot'') → sıcacık (''cozy, warm'') * çabuk (quick) → çabucak (''quickly'') → çabucacık (''in no time'') There are a few exceptions; gülücük (''giggle'') is derived from the verb gülmek (''to laugh''), but it's not considered a diminutive. Çocuk (''kid, child'') is not a diminutive, and it can't take a diminutive suffix. Kılçık (''fish bone'') may look like a diminutive, but it's not related to kıl (''body hair'') anyway. And kızılcık (''dogwood, dogberry'') is not a diminutive of kızıl (''bright red''), and gelincik (''weasel'') is not a diminutive of gelin (''bride''). (''see also: Mehmetçik'')Uralic languages
Estonian
The diminutive suffix of Estonian is "-kene" in its long form, but can be shortened to "-ke". In all grammatical cases except for the nominative and partitive singular, the "-ne" ending becomes "-se". It is fully productive and can be used with every word. Some words, such as "päike(ne)" (sun), "väike(ne)" (little) or "pisike(ne)" (tiny), are diminutive in their basic form, the diminutive suffix cannot be removed from these words. The Estonian diminutive suffix can be used recursively - it can be attached to a word more than once. Forms such as "pisikesekesekene", having three diminutive suffixes, are grammatically legitimate. As is demonstrated by the example, in recursive usage all but the last diminutive "-ne" suffix become "-se" as in forms inflected by case.Finnish
The diminutive suffixes of Finnish "-ke", "-kka", and "-nen" are not universal, and cannot be used on every noun. The feature is common in Finnish surnames, f.e. 'Jokinen' could translate 'Streamling', but since this form is not used in speaking about streams, the surname could also mean 'lands by the stream' or 'lives by the stream'. Double diminutives also occur in certain words f.e. lapsu''ka''i''nen'' (child, not a baby anymore), lapso''nen'' (small child), lapsi (child). Examples: **''-ke'': ''haara'' (branch) → ''haarake'' (little branch), ''nimi'' (name) → ''nimike'' (label, tag) **''-kka'': ''peni'' (dog (archaic)) → ''penikka'' (whelp, pup), ''nenä'' (nose) → ''nenukka'' (little nose) **''-nen'': ''lintu'' (bird) → ''lintunen'' (little bird), ''poika'' (boy, son) → ''poikanen'' (little boy, animal offspring)Hungarian
Hungarian uses the suffixes ''-ka/ke'' and ''-cska/cske'' to form diminutive nouns. The suffixes ''-i'' and ''-csi'' may also be used with names. However, you traditionally cannot have the diminutive form of your name registered officially in Hungary (although a few of the most common diminutive forms have been registered as possible legal first names in the past years). Nouns formed this way are considered separate words (as all words that are formed using ''képző'' type suffixes). They may not even be grammatically related to the base word, only historically, whereas the relation has been long forgotten. Some examples: *Animals **''-us'': ''kutya'' → ''kutyus'' (dog), ''cica'' → ''cicus'' (cat) **''-ci'': ''medve'' → ''maci'' (bear), ''borjú'' → ''boci'' (calf), ''liba → libuci'' (goose) **''-ka/-ke: madár → madárka'' (bird), ''egér → egérke'' (mouse) **''-cska/-cske: hal → halacska'', ''méh → méhecske'' (bee) *Names **''-i'': ''János'' → ''Jani'', ''Júlia'' → ''Juli'', ''Kata'' → ''Kati'', ''Mária'' → ''Mari'', ''Sára'' → ''Sári, Gergő/Gergely → Geri, Domo(n)kos → Domi'' **''-i-ka/ke'': ''János'' → ''Janika'', ''Júlia'' → ''Julika'', ''Mária'' → ''Marika, Ferenc → Ferike, Teréz(ia) → Terike'' **''-csi'': ''János'' → ''Jancsi'', ''Júlia'' → ''Julcsi'', ''Mária'' → ''Marcsi'' **''-iska/-iske/-uska'': ''Júlia'' → ''Juliska'', ''Mária'' → ''Mariska'', ''Ilona'' → ''Iluska'' **''-us'': ''Béla'' → ''Bélus, Júlia/Judit → Jucus'' **''-ci'': ''László'' → ''Laci'', ''Júlia/Judit'' → ''Juci, Anna → Anci'' **''-có'': ''Ferenc'' → ''Fecó'', ''József'' → ''Jocó'' **-ca: ''Ilona'' → ''Ica'', ''László'' → ''Laca'' **''-tya'': ''Péter'' → ''Petya'', ''Zoltán'' → ''Zotya'' **''-nyi'': ''Sándor'' → ''Sanyi, Mária → Manyi'' Note that these are all special diminutive suffixes. The universal ''-ka/ke'' and ''-cska/cske'' can be used to create further diminutive forms, e.g. ''kutyuska'' (little doggy), ''cicuska'' (little kitty). Theoretically, more and more diminutive forms can be created this way, e.g. ''kutyuskácskácska'' (little doggy-woggy-snoggy). Of course, this is not a common practice; the preferred translations are (doggy-woggy) and ''cicamica'' (kitty-witty).Bantu languages
Chichewa
Chichewa noun class 12 and 13 contain diminutive prefixes. The prefixes are ''ka'' (12) for singular nouns and ''ti'' (13) for plural nouns. These classes do not contain any words as opposed to the augmentative marker, which is also a regular noun class containing nouns. * mwana (child) → kamwana (little child) * ana (children) → tiana (little children)Ikyaushi
Aushi language, Ikyaushi expresses the diminutive using the nominal class prefixes ''aka-'' (Class 12) and ''utu-'' (Class 13), representing the singular and plural forms respectively. Both of these nominal classes also contain lexical items that are ''not'' characterized by diminution, as found in Spier's (2020) descriptive grammar,Spier, Troy E. 2020. ''A Descriptive Grammar of Ikyaushi''. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Tulane University, USA. such as ''akashimi'' ('story') and ''utubuki'' ('honey'). Interestingly, these prefixes can also be attached to non-nominal roots, such as the adjectival ''-noonoo'' in ''akanoonoo'' ('something small'). Additional examples can be found below. * inama → akanama ('a little piece of meat/flesh') * ikyuuni → akauni ('a small bird') / utuuni ('small birds') * mbushi → utubushi ('little goats') * umuti → utumuti ('little trees') * ifibwesela → utubwesela ('small pumpkins')seSotho
In the Sotho languages (South Sotho, Setswana, and Sesotho sa Lebowa), the diminunitive is formed with variants of the -ana suffix. * mošemane (boy) → mošemanyana (small boy) * koloi (car, wagon) → koloinyana (small car) * kolobe (pig) → kolobjana (piglet)Algonquian languages
Cree
Cree uses two basic diminutives. * ''-iš'' (''-is'' in the western dialects) to indicate a smaller version of a noun: :''sâkahikan'' (lake) → ''sâkahikaniš'' (small lake) * ''-išiš'' (''-isis'' in the western dialects) to indicate either a very small version of a noun or a young version of the noun: :''sâkahikaniš'' (small lake) → ''sâkahikanišiš'' (pond) In both dimunutives, sound changes may be triggered as ⟨t⟩→⟨c⟩ in most dialects, and ⟨s⟩→⟨š⟩ in the eastern dialects. * ''atim'' (dog) → ''acimošiš'' (puppy)Ojibwe
: ''See also Ojibwe grammar.'' Ojibwe has several different types of diminutive suffixes. * Adorative-diminutive: /ish/ : ''anim'' /animw/ (dog) → ''animosh'' /animwish/ (doggy) * Affective-diminutive: /iz(s)/ : ''ikwe'' (woman) → ''ikwes'' (dear woman) * Productive-diminutive, a.k.a. "diminutive": /enz(s)/ : ''ikwes'' /ikwez(s)/ (dear woman) → ''ikwezens'' /ikwezenz(s)/ (girl) The following diminutives palatize (noted as /y_/) all the preceding ⟨d⟩ → ⟨j⟩, ⟨s⟩ → ⟨sh⟩, ⟨t⟩ → ⟨ch⟩, ⟨z⟩ → ⟨zh⟩. * Pejorative-diminutive, a.k.a. "pejorative": /y_ish/ : ''ikwezens'' /ikwezenz(s)/ (girl) → ''ikwezhenzhish'' /ikwezyenzyish/ (bad girl) * Contemptive-diminutive, a.k.a. "contemptive": /y_eny(h)/ : ''gwiiwizens'' /gwiiwizenz(s)/ (boy) → ''gwiiwizhenzhenh'' /gwiiwizyenzyeny(h)/ (no-good boy) * Verbal diminutive: /y_ijiiny(h)/ : ''animokaa'' (be abundant with dogs) → ''animokaajiinh'' (bitch)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) * knabo (boy) → knabeto (little boy) * varma (warm) → varmeta (lukewarm) 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. * patrino (mother) → panjo (mum, mommy) * patro (father) → paĉjo (dad(dy)) * Aleksandra (Alexandra) → Alenjo (Sandra) * Aleksandro (Alexander) → Aleĉjo (Sandro) * Johano (John) → Joĉjo (Johnny) * Maria (Mary) → Manjo * Sofia (Sophie) → Sonjo * Vilhelmo (William) → Vilĉjo (Bill(y), Will(y)) Whereas languages such as Spanish may use the diminutive to denote offspring, as in "perrito" (pup), Esperanto has a dedicated and regular suffix, "-id" used for this purpose. Thus "hundeto" means "little dog" (such as a dog of a small breed), while "hundido" means a dog who is not yet fully grown.Interlingua
:''See also Free word-building in Interlingua.'' Interlingua has a single diminutive suffix, -ett, for diminutives of all sorts. * Johannes (John) → Johannetto (Johnny) * camera (chamber, room) → cameretta (little room) * pullo (chicken) → pulletto (chick) Use of this suffix is flexible, and diminutives such as ''mama'' and ''papa'' may also be used. To denote a small person or object, many Interlingua speakers simply use the word ''parve'', or small: * parve can → small dog * parve arbore → small treeNotes and references
{{reflist Linguistic morphology Lists by language, Diminutives