# Icelandic: hypocorism



## Gavril

Gott kvöld,

What's the Icelandic term for the familiar/pet form of a name? E.g., what would you call the form _Gunni _(in relation to _Gunnar_), or _Ellý_ (in rel. to _Elísabet_)?

Many people would call these "nicknames" in English, and I think that _gælunafn_ is the standard translation of "nickname". But, "nickname" can refer to both the modification of a name (_Gunnar_ -> _Gunni_) and the replacement of a name with a completely separate term (e.g., if a person has red hair, people might call him "Red", regardless of what his given name is).

Here I'm asking about the former kind of nickname (_Gunni, Ellý _etc.), for which the technical term in English is "hypocorism". Does Icelandic have a specific term for these as well?

Takk!


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## Alxmrphi

Hi Gavril,

The term _is_ gælunafn. When English uses a Greek word, more often than not (as I'm sure you know) it has a heavily restricted and massively specific usage in English and while there are methods often used to translate Greek words in academia into Icelandic (i.e._ yfir-_ _hyper- _& _undir-__ hypo-_), I don't think there would be a case for inventing a new term that isn't already in the vocabulary of Icelandic. The Ancient Greek word it comes from is_ hypokorízomai _which is _hypo- _and the verb for 'to caress' and the corresponding form of linking 'caress' is already there in _gælu- _which here takes on the meaning of fondness and the whole sense of endearment that is being expressed (sbr. *gælu*dýr = pet).

When you say that *"gælunafn* is the standard translation of *nickname*", I believe that's only(mostly) when used in this sense in an affectionate way (which can actually extend beyond shortening the official name, but still within the realm of a term of endearment) and other uses of the term nickname are translated with viðurnefni/uppnefni and this is how you would make such a distinction, but I am aware of some people using _gælunafn _which would be interchangeable with _viðurnefni_, but conventionally that is the labelled distinction between the two.

I'd be happy to see if a native speaker can say whether I am correct or if I have missed something/need to be corrected somewhere.

*Edit:* After having a little read through that link in the other post, it seems there's a lot more fluidity between these terms than I expected, but affectionate names in direct address do seem to be called _gælunöfn_ and other terms _viðurnefni _/ _uppnefni _(which is stated to have a more pejorative 'speaking behind someone's back' nuance).


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## Ben Jamin

Calling hypocorisms used in other languages “nicknames” is a very common misunderstanding in the Anglophone world. Colloquial English doesn’t have a name for hypocorism and uses words like “nickname” or “pet name” which distort the meaning.


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## Tazzler

Ben Jamin said:


> Calling hypocorisms used in other languages “nicknames” is a very common misunderstanding in the Anglophone world. Colloquial English doesn’t have a name for hypocorism and uses words like “nickname” or “pet name” which distort the meaning.



What do you suggest then?


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## Ben Jamin

Tazzler said:


> What do you suggest then?



I can't create new words in colloquial English, so I don' suggest any new word. In linguistic discussion hypocorism is the only word I can propose. But you are a native speaker, can you suggest a better word?


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## LilianaB

Hi, Gavril. these are called diminutives in English. Maybe there is something similar to it in Icelandic. (only the childlike, or affectionate form of a nickname would be called a diminutive, or a diminutive form). The others are just nicknames.


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## Gavril

LilianaB said:


> Hi, Gavril. these are called diminutives in English. Maybe there is something similar to it in Icelandic. (only the childlike, or affectionate form of a nickname would be called a diminutive, or a diminutive form). The others are just nicknames.



This discussion (from about post 3 onward) probably should be moved to the English-only forum, but not all hypocorisms are diminutives. For example, some people might use _Dave-meister_ as a familiar form of the name _David. _I think it would be a stretch to call _Dave-meister_ a diminutive.


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## LilianaB

Yes, only Davy would be a diminutive.


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## Ben Jamin

Hypocorisms can be formed as diminutives, but often are not. That's why I didn't propose that word.


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