# All Slavic languages: diminutives in general



## Seana

Hello​ 
I have decided to initiate this thread about diminutives (exclusive of the names) because when I am writing in English, lack those deminutives distorts a sence of my sentence in many cases at all. Referring for instance  my speech or  informal letter are stiff and pompous. Unfortunately I don't know the rules to form them  properly.
In my opinion, Polish like others Slavic language, has much more amount of various diminutives then Germanic languages. They are integral part of every our language and it's so difficult to write something without using them. But meybe I am not right, meybe in English and German it isn't the same.
It would be very kind of you if you replied my post and gave many, many examples (in your languages of course as well) and theirs translation in to English   

Greetings​ 
Feel free to correct me. My English isn't good enough.​


----------



## Little_Me

Seana said:
			
		

> But meybe maybe I am not right, meybe maybe [be careful with this word!] in English and German it isn't the same.
> It would be very kind of you if you replied to my post and gave many, many examples (in your languages of course as well) and theirs translation in to into English ​
> Greetings​
> 
> Feel free to correct me. My English isn't good enough.​


 
Hey Seana!
That's great that you started this new thread, as you promised But I guess it will be easier if you start on your own with some examples that we could know what you exactly mean by 'diminutives in general'!  Maybe we should concentrate only on names (first names) in different languages, because, I think, it's the most common problem, what could be clearly seen in Carl.F.'s recent thread... What do you think, Seana? Will you give some examples?
Pozdrawiam


----------



## Seana

Hi all 

Most often in Polish language diminutives are made from the basic nouns and adjectives by add to them various suffixs with a letter -k.

*nouns deminitives*

_suffix -ek, -ik, -ka, -ko_, ​anioł – aniołek angel ----- little angel ? 
jajo - jajko --------------egg - little ? 
drzewo- drzewko-------- tree - little tree _not always_
książka- ksiażeczka------ book - little book
wstążka- wstażeczka---- band - lttle band
pies - piesek------------ dog - little dog
kot - kotek-------------- cat - little cat ( catty is better)
koń - konik-------------- horse - little horse _not always _
pieniądz - pieniążek------coin - little coin
prezent prezencik--------gift - little gift
ogon - ogonek_,-----------_ tail - little tail​dziura - dziurka hole----- little hole 
igła- igiełka needle------- little needle

*Other siffixes are getting large*
_suffix -eńka _i _-eczka_
matka - mateńka------- mother - little mother ? -_ it is just nonsence_​córka - córeczka------- daugther - little daughter -_ not always_
_suffix -uś __, usia_
chleb - chlebuś-------- bred - little bread it is isn't the same
pani - paniusua --------lady - little lady
a suffix _-usio –_
wnuk - wnusio--------- grandchild - little granchild _- not always_
_uffix -uchna -cia little old fashion_
córa - córuchna------- daughter - little daugter -_ not always_
_suffix -uszko _​serce – serduszko------ heart - little heart _not always_

_suffix -sio_
miś - misio bear ------- little bear

_suffix - niątko_

jagnie jagniątko-------- lamb - little lamb
dziecko - dzieciatko ---child - baby
_the others suffixs _
_-zia, - nio, -dzio, -dzia, _
bóg - bozia God ------ little God _nonsence_
syn - synunio---------son -little son
dziad - dziadzio -------grand father - granny?​ 

*diminutives of adjectives*
suffix _-utki – utka_​ 
gruby - grubiutki--------fat ?
okragły- okrąglutki------round ?
szczupły -szczuplutki--- thin ?
mała - małutka--------- small ?​ 
These samples above are only examples for showing you this problem and search for the rules.
I think if I tried adding to all of those English the words "little" or "small" it couldn't be the same meaning, because using of diminutives in Polish very often is related with emphasizing positive shade of meaning these words. And not always things or persons are small or little but very often they are so beloved and nice for us that they are described in this way.
How can I indicate and show all these shades of mood and meaning when I write or talk in English.
I describe this grammatical problem by my own words so it wouldn't be so proper and clear. I am sorry for my unperfect English but I think you catch on point of my problem.​ 
PS I see I found some real guardian of accurate English around me. Many thanks for the correction Little_Me.​ 
Best regards Seana

​
​
​


----------



## Sybil

Seana, 

I wish I had more time tonight to think of all of your quesitons, but let me address at least some of your issues.

_-zia, - nio, -dzio, -dzia, 
_bóg - bozia God ------ little God _nonsence _

I agree--total nonsence, but I can't think right now of the word children use for "God" (is there one?)

syn - synunio---------son -little son I'd say "my little boy" ("my little one")

dziad - dziadzio -------grand father - granny? "grandpa"

gruby - grubiutki--------fat ? "grubiutki" would be "chubby"

okragły- okrąglutki------round ? you need to define the context--a person who is "okraglutka," again, could be "chubby"

szczupły -szczuplutki--- thin ? "Thin" is "chudy," I believe 

"Szczuply" is "slim"; "szczuplutki"--"skinny" (usage: if you call an adult "skinny"--it's an insult; a child--that's fine--at least in the States.)
 
mała - małutka--------- small ? I'd say "little" or "tiny," but, again, I need the context

and 

piesek - doggy

kotek - kitty​

As you can see, ofte there are no rules  You need to use a different word altogether.​


----------



## Seana

Hi Sybil
Many thanks for you replay. I am very happy that just you was the one who has refered to my problem because you are bilingual and you might understand exactly what I mean. 
Really I could find most of the pet names or deminitives in dictionary but I would like to know the rules how can I could express and indicate my feelings of all these shades of mood when I write or talk in English. 

Pozwól, że łatwiej będzie mi wytłumaczyć to po polsku. 
Gdy mówimy po polsku, w stylu potocznym, często podświadomie wyrażamy się ekspresywnie, używając słownictwa nacechowanego emocjonalnie. I tak w przypadku opisu rzeczy zdarzeń lub osób budzących pozytywne skojarzenia uzywamy zdrobnień np kotek, natomist w przypadku zgrubień są to wyrazy nacechowane emocjonalnie ujemnie np psisko, kocur ( ale już np śliczny kocur albo wierne psisko, ma już zupełnie inne, pozytywne zabarwienie). 
Chciałam zapytać, jak w języku angielskim można te barwy i nastroje przekazywać. Czy są jakieś reguły, przyrostki bądź wyrazy, które mogłyby je oddać?


----------



## Seana

Little_Me said:
			
		

> Maybe we should concentrate only on names (first names) in different languages, because, I think, it's the most common problem, what could be clearly seen in Carl.F.'s recent thread... What do you think, Seana? Will you give some examples?
> Pozdrawiam


Hi Little Me
I think all these rules and suffixs work for creative the pet first names in Polish as well.
Would you have a look

_suffix -ek, -ik, -ka, _
_Wiesiek_
_Władek_
_Krzysiek_
_Kazik,_
_Iwonka. _
_Nikolka _
_Wiolketka_

_suffix -eńka _
_Ola- Oleńka
Kasieńka,

__suffix - eczek _i _-eczka _
_Jureczek_
_Mareczek_

_suffix -sio, sia_
_Stasio_
_Rysio_
_Krzysio_
_Kasia_
_Krysia_
_Basia_
_Małgosia_
_Marysia_

_suffix - inka, - ynka_
_Karolinka,_
_Paulinka_
_Kalinka_
_Grażynka_

_the others suffixs _
_-zia, - nio, -dzio, -dzia ( little old- fashion)_
_Kazia, _
_Lodzia_
_Bodzio_

_suffix -ychna -achna little old fashion_
_Marychna_
_Kachna_
_suffix cia little old fashion_
_Ircia_
_Julcia_
_suffix -unia -ynia _
_Ewunia_
_Basiunia_
_Marynia_
_Martunia_
_Suffix -usia -asia _
_Danusia_
_Bogusia
Pelasia
Joasia
Suffix -etka -etek
Żanetka
Mietek
Wojtek,

Would you add some If I forgot.

Greetings
_


----------



## Sybil

Seana, 

Thank you for your kind words. I did not mean to lead you into thinking that I am bilingual. I took my first English lesson at 12 and I consider myself fluent but not bilingual  Certainly, living in the States for several years has had an enourmous impact on my English-speaking skills. (Teaching a language helps to master it as well ;-) Anyway, porozmawiajmy po polsku. Niestety bez polskich znakow diakrytycznych - przepraszam. Nie zastanawialam sie nidgy nad zagadnieniem, ktore poruszasz i nie znam regul o ktore pytasz.
Jedyne co moge powiedziec, to ze w przypadku pozytywnych skojarzen uczuciowych w amerykanskim angielskim, w jezyku dziecka wiele wyrazow ma koncowke [ee] (w pisowni "y" lub "ie" : "mommy", "daddy", "auntie" (ciocia), poprzednio wymienione "doggy" czy "kitty"/"kitty-cat", "dollie" (lala - to troche staromodnie brzmi) "teddy" (misiu) "froggy" (zabka), "ducky" (kaczuszka), "potty" (nocniczek), "cookie" (ciasteczko) etc. To oznacza, ze jakies reguly istnieja, ale nic mi nie wiadomo o tym, aby generalnie polskie reguly zdrabniania wyrazow mialy odpowiedniki w angielskim i odwrotnie. 

Mysle, ze warto ogolnie zadac pytanie o "deminutive forms" na forum angielsko-angielskim.

Czy znasz te publikacje?

Jusczyk, P. W. (1997). The discovery of spoken language. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press.

Jusczyk, P. W., Hohne, E. A., & Bauman, A. (1999). Infants’ sensi-tivity to allophonic cues for word segmentation. Perception & Psychophysics, 61, 1465-1476.

Moze tam znajdziesz cos konkretniejszego. 
Polecam tez, tak przy okazji, nastepujace zrodlo: *Different Languages, Different Emotions? Perspectives from Autobiographical Literature *autorstwa Mary Besemeres. (Ponizej zalaczam streszczenie pracy:

Bilingual life writing offers a rare insight into the relationship between languages and emotions. This article explores ways in which some striking contemporary memoirs and novels of bilingual experience approach questions of cultural difference in emotion. The texts considered include memoirs by Eva Hoffman and Tim Parks, autobiographical fiction by Lilian Ng and Nino Ricci, and personal essays by Stanisl aw Barañczak and Zhengdao Ye. I focus on these writers' treatment of the role played in their own or their protagonists' lives by forms of emotional expression that do not readily translate between their two languages. These include expressive forms such as diminutives and interjections as well as concepts which invoke specific feelings, like the Polish szcz&ecedil;śliwy (happy) and American English ‘happy’. Another significant area represented in these texts is the extent to which nonverbal means of expressing feelings translate, or fail to. The narratives explored here suggest that different languages make possible distinct emotional styles, which engage different parts of a bilingual's self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]) Moze sie przyda...


----------



## Little_Me

Hi Seana, hi Sybil (and hello to everyone)! 
Seana, I'm impressed by your posts and that huge effort you made to create this thread, all your examples and everything is just great. I'm thinking and thinking, but nothing really comes to my mind, I have nothing to add. Oh, no, maybe one more, Anusia (as an example of suffix -usia)- let's say, from very personal reason  
But anyway, I've just realised that I was a little bit misled, 'cause I was thinking rather about diminutives in other languages, not so much in Polish!(maybe because I know something about it in Polish ) So Sybil, your post was very interesting to me, thanks! Diminutives in English seem to be quite different and I'd like to know more about them! But I guess it would be also great to get to know some diminutives' rules in Czech or other Slavic language, don't you think? 
Greetings!


----------



## cajzl

I am afraid that many of the above listed "suffixes" are either combined suffixes or are no suffixes at all.

For example:
_



suffix - niątko
jagnie jagniątko (lamb - little lamb)
		
Click to expand...

_
*-niątko* is not suffix: *jagnie* has the stem *jagniąt-*, the suffix is *-ko*

The same for:

_suffix -sio, sia_
_the others suffixes -zia, - nio, -dzio, -dzia_
etc.


----------



## cajzl

The Czech language:

The basic suffixes creating the deminutives:

*-ek*, *-ík* (< *-iek*) for the masculine nouns

*-ka* for the feminine nouns

*-ko* for the neutre nouns

_Examples:_

dům (dom-) -> domek
pes (ps-) -> psík

ruka -> ručka
noha -> nožka

slovo -> slůvko
(jablo) -> jablko
jehně (jehňat-) -> jehňátko

_The suffixes can be applied two times:_

(krt) -> krtek -> krteček
dům -> domek -> domeček
pes -> psík -> psíček

_Another combined suffixes:_

ruka -> (ručice) -> ručička (i.e. -ice + -ka)
noha -> (nožice) -> nožička

slovo -> (slovce) -> slovíčko


----------



## Seana

Hello Cajzl
If it was taken in philological sence you would be definitely right.
But I would like to show in picturesque way how Polish diminutives are created. Very often the stem of word is not so easy and clear to indicate, is it? 
Would you have a look on this little lamb: 

You wrote jagniąt = stem. I think it is plural form, the root word is still jagnię, so suffix is -ątko.
I guess you are philologist. Sorry, if I wasn't right but to be honest I have used some specialist Polish linguistic paper about diminutives because I am only an engineer.

Any way many thanks for your replay and such the sweet diminutives  .
I have a little contact with your language (ski in every winter time) and I think spoken Czech language contains many diminutives too, maybe even more then Polish. Do you agree with me?

Greetings


----------



## Marijka

Just one example in Ukrainian. 
Adjective *малий*= small

You can create disminutives of adjectives by using/mixing suffixes:
-*ав*-/-*яв*-  
-*еньк*-  
-*ісіньк*- 
-*юсіньк*- 
-*есеньк*- 

And now, our example:

малий
мал*еньк*ий (maleńki)
мал*есеньк*ий (malusieńki)
мал*юсеньк*ий (malusieńki)
мал*юсіньк*ий (malusieńki)
мал*юненьк*ий ("malenieńki")
мал*юпеньк*ий ("malupeńki")
мал*юпусіньк*ий ("malupusieńki")
мал*ю**пу**сеньк*ий ("malupusieńki")
мал*юненьк*ий ("malunieńki")
...
and so on ( I found 14 variations of word малий in my grammar book)

As you can see, there is a lot of possibilities, I'm not sure if native Ukrainians use all of them  I've tried to translate them into Polish , but it's almost impossible


----------



## Seana

Hi
Marijka you are really good at Ucrainian language. 
Are there many differences between Russian and Ucrainian?
I think you could find the same many variants of Polish diminutives in this case.
Would you have a look I give you 13 of them
малий
мал*еньк*ий (maleńki) 
мал*есеньк*ий - (malusieńki)
мал*юсеньк*ий repeated - 
мал*юсіньк*ий I think it could be similar - (malusiński) ?
мал*юненьк*ий ("malenieńki") rare used ?
мал*юпеньк*ий ("malupeńki") not used ?
мал*юпусіньк*ий ("malupusieńki") not used ?
мал*ю**пу**сеньк*ий ("malupusieńki") not used ?
мал*юненьк*ий ("malunieńki") rare used
I add these ones?
maciupki
maciupeńki
maluńki ( I hope it is exist - I heard in my life as I remember)
malusi
malutki
maluśki
maluchny ( rare used, maybe never)
malućki ( little old fashion)
maluteńki
maciupci (It really exists even in song liric I know)

So what do you think of it? I invent all of them by myself.


----------



## Marijka

Seana said:
			
		

> Hi
> Marijka you are really good at Ucrainian language.
> Are there many differences between Russian and Ucrainian?


Thanks, but I'm not that good. 
I think differences have been talked about many times, but if you've got any questions feel free to email me or submit new thread.  Or you can always look it up here   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_language

I really like this one  :


			
				Seana said:
			
		

> maciupci (It really exists even in song liric I know)


I just wanted to give overall impression how they would sound in Polish.


----------



## Seana

Hey Marijka 
It wasn't a joke.I found it for you in the net. May you have a look.
It is example for using a word "maciupci".
It is a little sample of liric song by Andrzej Waligórski (sang by Chyła)
"O kniaziu Dreptaku" 
qoute
"Bo w zamku straszy coś nocą! 
Straszy! Oj, straszy całkiem nieźle, 
Chodzi po zamku w jedwabnym gieźle, 
A pysk ma okropnie długi! 
Uszy ma takie – wielkie jak kapcie, 
A oczka całkiem maciupcie... 
całkiem maciupcie...."


----------



## Marijka

I know that "maciupci" exists, it's just that I like this word. It's funny and sweet


----------



## Aldin

In Bosnian most deminutives are formed with sufix -ica(for female), -ić(for male) -ce(Neuter)
anđeo – anđelak(anđelčić)----- little angel ? 

jaje- jaj_ce_ --------------egg - little  
drvo- drv_ce_-------- tree - little tree 
knjiga- knjiž_ica_------ book - little book
pas - ps_ić_------------ dog - little dog
mačka - mačk_ica_-------------- cat - little cat 
konj - konj_ić_-------------- horse - little horse 
poklon-poklonč_ić_--------gift - little gift
rep-rep_ić,-----------_ tail - little tail​rupa-rup_ica_----- little hole 
igla-igl_ica_ needle------- little needle
In Bosnian most of the surnames are made of deminutives primarly uses -ić
Bajramović,Kovačević,Hadžihafizbegović,Zulfikarpašić,Hadžialić,Arnautalić
Gavrankapetanović all ending in -ić


----------



## Mirna

those sufixes are the same for Croatian


----------

