Questions tagged [diminutives]
The diminutives tag has no usage guidance.
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Diminutive forms - usage
Reading from some grammar sources, I came to know that bullet is a diminutive of ball.
Nevertheless, as far as I know, bullet is nowadays mostly used in the sense of "gun-bullet".
So can ...
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Could "Terry" be a diminutive for Peter or Walter?
I know "Terry" is used as a given name, and derives from french Thierry. It could also be used as a nickname for e.g. Terence. Here the first syllable of the given name is used as the stem in the ...
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The name 'Peppa' is the diminutive of what name? [closed]
Is Peppa or Pippa the diminutive of Josephine? Or is it the diminutive of another name?
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Why do affectionate diminutive forms of different names follow different patterns?
Let's take John, Fred and Paul and consider the affectionate diminutive (AD) forms of their names. John becomes Johnny, Fred becomes Freddie, Paul becomes Paulie.
Formalizing the transformation:
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What’s the diminutive form of “reindeer”?
Could you please tell me what the diminutive form of reindeer is? How do children call it? A pig is 'piggy', a dog is 'doggy', a reindeer is ... 'reinee'?
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Is rivulet grammatically considered as a diminutive of river?
The word rivulet is not listed in Wikipedia's list of diminutives.
Is it considered as a diminutive of river in formal grammar?
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Why do pet (animal) names in English tend to end in ē as a diminutive?
I counted, 46 / 100 of the most popular dog names end with an ē sound, and 5/10 of the most popular cat names in the UK end with an ē sound. ( 32/100 cat names from a broader but less accurate source )...
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Do false diminutives exist in English?
In some languages, there are false diminutives, by which I mean words which have diminutive suffixes but don't express either small size or affectionately emotive meanings.
For example, in Italian, -...
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If you called someone named "Shelly" "Shels" for short, would you spell it "Shels" or "Shells?" [closed]
Or Kelly -- "Kels" or "Kells?"
Is there a rule for this?
If it's just a judgement call, I'm inclined to go with one "l" as both "Shells" and "Kells" have potentially confusing homonyms.
I'm talking ...
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What is the origin of "alrighty"?
It is a friendlier and more colloquial version of "alright". It is also heard in the exclamation/interjection "Alrighty, then!". I usually hear it at the end of conversations in ...
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Word for "little body"?
Is there any term (a diminutive) in English for "little body"? I suppose that the forms such as "bodylet" and "bodyling" are utterly incorrect.
Here is the context: "Graving snow caressing the little ...
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How are diminutives formed in recent English words?
A large variety of suffixes were used to form diminutives in English. The Wikipedia page on diminutives shows these:
-k/-ock/-uck: balk, bollock, bullock, buttock, fetlock, folk, hark, hillock, jerk, ...
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Origin of the "-y" or "-ie" diminutive suffix to denote intimacy/tenderness? (E.g. Bob→Bobby, dad→daddy, Doug→Dougie)
Many names seem to get a "-y" or "-ie" at the end when the speaker wishes to denote a hint of familiarity, intimacy, or tenderness. Examples can be seen not just in names, but in terms like puppy, ...
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