Diminutives are linguistic units that make words smaller or younger. They can be added as segments or whole words and can be pejorative or convey familiarity. The English word “little” is an example of a diminutive and can be added to emphasize youth or smallness. Diminutives can also be used as nicknames, such as “Dave” for David or “Peg” for Margaret.
A diminutive is a linguistic unit that transforms another word into a smaller or younger version of itself. It is also an adjective or noun that describes something small in stature. Diminutives can be segments that attach to words or whole words themselves. If the diminutive consists of a segment attached to another word, that new word may be called the diminutive form, for example, “‘Annie’ is the diminutive form of ‘Ann'”. Suffixes are a common form, although diminutives can be prefixed, as well.
The English word “little” is an example of a diminutive. Not only does the word itself indicate a diminutive or small status, but speakers can also add it to other words that already indicate “young” or “small” to emphasize or specify that the object is even younger or smaller, such as ” little boy”. “Boy” already implies youth, but a boy can be a 16-year-old teenager who towers over his parents. Adding “little” further narrows the definition to show that the boy in question is very small and young.
Even diminutives can be pejorative, as in the English phrase “little creep.” This is often used in situations where the speaker is completely annoyed or even angry at the person being referred to as a creep, and is meant to add an extra insult. The result is the reduction of the person called a creep to something as unimportant as an insect.
The context of the sentence determines the intended meaning. For example, “A child has entered the library” is about a child who enters a library. If a father says to his son, “Listen, little boy, don’t tell me what to do,” however, the “little one” is meant to point out to the son that he is less experienced and not as knowledgeable as his father.
Another very common use of diminutives is to convey familiarity and closeness by changing a person’s name, and they are often considered nicknames in some languages. Diminutives can shorten, modify, or completely change the original word, such as the English “Dave” for David or “Peg” for Margaret. Colloquial Cantonese, for example, uses the diminutive “-jái” to create diminutives like “māaujái” or kitten, from “māau”, cat. Speakers may also add this suffix to male names to indicate closeness to that person.
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