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A diminutive creates a meaning of ‘small’ or ‘little’. The most common diminutives are formed with the prefix mini- and with suffixes such as -let and -y. We often use a diminutive with names or with abbreviated names when we want to be more informal, or to express affection for someone or something:
- English (US)
Diminutives (- let, - y and mini- ) - English Grammar Today...
- Polski
Diminutives (- let, - y and mini- ) - English Grammar...
- English (US)
A diminutive is a suffix which is added to a word to show affection or to indicate that something is small. For example, '-ie' and '-ette' are diminutives, for example in 'doggie' and ' statuette'.
- Example
- Diminutive Derivation
- The Trick of Shrinking
- A Borrowed Italian Diminutive
- Contrasting Attitudes Toward Diminutives
- Sources
"My parents named me William, but my friends call me Billy or just Bill. Except for one aunt who calls me Willy."
"[I]n English, productive diminutive derivation hardly exists at all, despite the existence of isolated baby forms such as handies, doggie or birdie (one can say girlie but not *mannie, auntie but not *unclie, horsie but not *goatie, and so on."
"A charming trick almost every language has is the 'shrinking' of someone or something you like by the use of diminutives. The diminutive of Charles is Charlie. The diminutive of William is Billy. The diminutive of star is starlet. The diminutive of pig is piglet. The Olympics of diminutives is won hands-down by the Italians, who have literally doz...
"The food is so good because the ingredients are excellent, like the bread that is made especially for 'ino at Blue Ribbon Bakery down the block. But 'ino, a word ending that is an all-purpose Italian diminutive, also offers a European-style warmth."
Traditionally, the term 'diminutive' has been used to refer to words which denote smallness and possibly also expressing an attitude. The expressed attitude can be either positive or negative, i.e. either affectionate or derogatory, depending on the specific interplay of linguistic and situational factors in a given context." "Diminutivesare titles...
David Klass, You Don't Know Me. Square Fish, 2001 Anna Wierzbicka, Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: The Semantics of Human Interaction. Walter de Gruyter, 1991 (Barry Farber, How to Learn Any Language. Citadel, 1991 Eric Asimov, "An Italian Sandwich Shop That Takes the Diminutive." The New York Times, February 10, 1999 Margaret Anne Doody, Frances Burney...
- Richard Nordquist
a word or part of a word that expresses the fact that something is small, often used either to show affection or to suggest something or someone is not important: The findings do not support previous studies on gender differences in parental use of diminutives with young children. the short form of a name:
A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to derogatorily belittle something or someone.
A diminutive person is short and small. A diminutive word is a "cute" version of a word or name: for example, "duckling" is a diminutive of "duck" and Billy is a diminutive form of the name William.
When writing about language, diminutive as both an adjective and a noun refers to particular endings and the words made with them to indicate smallness. In English, such endings include -et and -ette (piglet, dinette, cigarette, diskette) as well as -ie and -y (doggy, bootie, Bobby, Debbie).
