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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.^[1]^[2] A diminutive form (abbreviated DIM) is a word-formation device used to express such meanings. A double diminutive is a diminutive form with two diminutive suffixes rather than one.

Purpose

Diminutives are often employed as nicknames and pet names when speaking to small children and when expressing extreme tenderness and intimacy to an adult. The opposite of the diminutive form is the augmentative.

In some contexts, diminutives are also employed in a pejorative sense to denote that someone or something is weak or childish. For example, one of the last Western Roman emperors was Romulus Augustus, but his name was diminutivized to "Romulus Augustulus" to express his powerlessness.

Formation

In many languages, diminutives are word forms that are formed from the root word by affixation. In most languages, diminutives can also be formed as multi-word constructions such as "Tiny Tim", or "Little Dorrit".

In most languages that form diminutives by affixation, this is a productive part of the language.^[1] For example, in Spanish gordo can be a nickname for someone who is overweight, and by adding an -ito suffix, it becomes gordito which is more affectionate. Examples for a double diminutive having two diminutive suffixes are in Polish dzwon → dzwonek → dzwoneczek or Italian casa → casetta → casettina).

In English, the alteration of meaning is often conveyed through clipping, making the words shorter and more colloquial. Diminutives formed by adding affixes in other languages are often longer and (as colloquial) not necessarily understood.

While many languages apply a grammatical diminutive to nouns, a few – including Slovak, Dutch, Spanish, Romanian, Latin, Polish, Bulgarian, Czech, Russian and Estonian – also use it for adjectives (in Polish: słodki → słodziutki → słodziuteńki) and even other parts of speech (Ukrainian спати → спатки → спатоньки — to sleep or Slovak spať → spinkať → spinuškať — to sleep, bežať → bežkať — to run).

Diminutives in isolating languages may grammaticalize strategies other than suffixes or prefixes. In Mandarin Chinese, for example, other than the nominal prefix 小- xiǎo- and nominal suffixes -儿/-兒 -r and -子 -zi, reduplication is a productive strategy, e.g., 舅 → 舅舅 and 看 → 看看.^[3] In formal Mandarin usage, the use of diminutives is relatively infrequent, as they tend to be considered to be rather colloquial than formal. Some Wu Chinese dialects use a tonal affix for nominal diminutives; that is, diminutives are formed by changing the tone of the word.

For extensive examples of diminutive formation in a variety of languages, see List of diminutives by language.

English examples

Charlie from Charles
Chuck from Charles
darling from dear
duckling or duckie from duck
cygnet from Old French cigne; French cygne (both: swan)
kitten from Middle English kitoun, Old French chitoun, diminutive of chat, cat
ringlet from ring
doggie from dog
fishie from fish

References

^ ^a ^b "Glossary - D to F". The Standards Site. Department for Children, Schools and Families, The Crown. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27.
^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 6th edition
^ "Diminutives and reduplicatives in Chinese". Language Log. Retrieved 2018-02-22.