Diminutives (pamazināmie vārdi)

What is a diminutive?

A diminutive is the form of a word which is used to indicate smallness, intimacy, or endearment. For example, in English one can use an -ie or -y ending to make a diminutive, as in doggie, horsie, or kitty. This same ending can also be used with names, as in Susie, Johnny, or Robbie. English has a number of diminutive endings that can be suffixed to a noun (in addition to -ie or -y). For example: -ette, as in diskette or kitchenette, -let, as in piglet or eyelet, -ling, as in duckling or gosling. For more information on diminutives in general, please see the article on Diminutives in Wikipedia.

Latvian Diminutives: Meanings

In Latvian a diminutive typically indicates either (a) small size, (b) endearment, (c) both small size and endearment, or (d) a negative (i.e. pejorative) meaning (which may also imply smallness). Here are some examples:

Meaning	Examples
small size	galdiņš 'little table', meitenīte 'little girl', caurumiņš 'small hole'
endearment	tētiņš 'dear father', bāleliņš 'dear brother'
endearment and/or small size	brālītis 'dear little brother', rociņa 'dear little hand'
negative	vīrelis 'insignificant little man', prātiņš 'pitiful little mind', šunelis 'poor excuse for a dog'

In addition, one sometimes sees idiomatic meanings with diminutive nouns. One example is mātīte 'female/mother animal', which derives from māte 'mother' (e.g. pīļu mātīte 'female duck' (literally: 'little mother of ducks').

Latvian Diminutives: Forms

Latvian diminutives are formed by adding a suffix to the root of a noun (and, very rarely, to an adjective). The diminutive suffix precedes the gender-marking suffix. For example, the word cepure 'hat' consists of a root (cepur-) and a feminine suffix (-e). The diminutive suffix -īt is added directly to the noun root, and the feminine suffix comes at the end. Thus, the word meaning 'little hat' is cepur-īt-e.

Latvian has several diminutive suffixes; the most commonly-used ones are -iņ, -tiņ, -īt, and -el. Which is used typically depends on the declension class of the noun to which one desires to attach it. Here are some guidelines:

1st and 4th declension nouns: add suffix -iņ. Examples:

Declension class	Basic noun	Meaning	Diminutive noun	Meaning
1 (masculine)	krēsl-s	chair	krēsl-iņ-š	little chair
1 (masculine)	kaln-s	hill, mountain	kaln-iņ-š	small hill
1 (masculine)	kok-s	tree	koc-iņ-š	little tree
1 (masculine)	log-s	window	lodz-iņ-š	small window
1 (masculine)	Robert-s	Robert	Robert-iņ-š	dear/little Robbie
4 (feminine)	lap-a	leaf	lap-iņ-a	small leaf
4 (feminine)	sien-a	wall	sien-iņ-a	little wall
4 (feminine)	rok-a	hand	roc-iņ-a	little hand
4 (feminine)	seg-a	blanket, coverlet	sedz-iņ-a	small coverlet
4 (feminine)	Ann-a	Anna	Ann-iņ-a	dear/little Annie

Note (i): as the preceding examples show, the 1st declension masculine ending -s (which is phonetically a dental sound: [ s̪ ]) palatalizes under the influence of the preceding palatal sound [ ɲ ] (spelled: ņ), and is, therefore, pronounced as an alveo-palatal, namely [ ʃ ] (spelled: -š) . For additional examples of this type of palatalization, see the section on Place of Articulation Assimilation.

In any case, this means that any masculine nouns which have the diminutive suffix -iņ or -tiņ will have the gender marking ending -š (not -s).

Note (ii): noun roots ending in the velar stops (-k or -g) show an alternation with the corresponding dental affricates (-c or -dz) in diminutive forms with the -iņ suffix. Thus: rok-a 'hand' but roc-iņ-a 'little hand'. For additional examples of this, see the section on Velar Affrication.

2nd and 5th declension nouns: add suffix -īt. Examples:

Declension class	Basic noun	Meaning	Diminutive noun	Meaning
2 (masculine)	brāl-is	brother	brāl-īt-is	little brother
2 (masculine)	zīmul-is	pencil	zīmul-īt-is	little
2 (masculine)	skap-is	cupboard	skap-īt-is	little cupboard
2 (masculine)	Jān-is	John	Jān-īt-is	dear/little Johnny
5 (feminine)	mut-e	mouth	mut-īt-e	little mouth
5 (feminine)	egl-e	fir tree	egl-īt-e	little fir tree
5 (feminine)	kurp-e	shoe	kurp-īt-e	little shoe
5 (feminine)	Ilz-e	Ilsa	Ilz-īt-e	dear/little Ilsa

Exceptions: the 2nd declension nouns with roots ending in en (such as akmen-s 'stone', gredzen-s 'ring', spilven-s 'pillow', ūden-s 'water', zoben-s 'sword', etc.) will NOT take the -īt diminutive suffix. Instead, they take the same diminutive as 3rd and 6th declension class nouns, namely -tiņ. Thus, these kinds of nouns will have diminutives like: akmen-tiņ-š 'small stone', gredzen-tiņ-š 'small/dear ring', spilven-tiņ-š 'tiny pillow', ūden-tiņ-š 'a little (bit of) water', zoben-tiņ-š 'little/dear sword', and so forth.

3rd and 6th declension nouns: add suffix -tiņ. However, feminine (formerly 6th declension nouns) will now use the 4th declension feminine endings. In addition, masculine (formerly 3rd declension) nouns will typically retain the -u stem suffix before the diminutive, then add the diminutive, and then use the 1st declension masculine endings. In other words, a root such as al-us 'beer, ale' will retain the u, then add -tiņ, and then the -s (and other endings) of the 1st declension class. Here is how the (singular) diminutive form (meaning: 'small beer') would be declined, as compared to the regular form of al-us 'beer, ale':

Case	Diminutive noun	Basic (3rd decl.) noun
nominative	al-u-tiņ-š	al-u-s
genitive	al-u-tiņ-a	al-u-s
dative	al-u-tiņ-am	al-u-m
accusative	al-u-tiņ-u	al-u
locative	al-u-tiņ-ā	al-ū
vocative	al-u-tiņ-š!	al-u-s!

Here are some examples of more 3rd and 6th declension nouns, and their diminutive forms:

Declension class	Basic noun	Meaning	Diminutive noun	Meaning
3 (masculine)	al-u-s	beer, ale	al-u-tiņ-š	a small beer
3 (masculine)	led-u-s	ice	led-u-tiņ-š	little (piece of) ice
3 (masculine)	med-u-s	honey	med-u-tiņ-š	small (insignificant kind of) honey
6 (feminine)	ziv-s	fish	ziv-tiņ-a	small fish
6 (feminine)	bals-s	voice	bals-tiņ-a	small voice
6 (feminine)	aus-s	ear	aus-tiņ-a	small ear

Exceptional Diminutive Forms

However, there are always exceptions. In addition to that group of 2nd declension noun roots ending in en already described above, there are idiosyncratic exceptions that need to be dealt with individually. Here is a list of diminutives with unusual forms; the list is as comprehensive as I can make it:

Declension class	Basic noun	Meaning	Diminutive noun	Meaning
1 (masculine)	tēv-s	father	tē-tiņ-š	dear father
1 (masculine)	degun-s	nose	degun-tiņ-š	little nose
2 (masculine)	mēnes-s	moon	mēnes-tiņ-š	dear/little moon
2 (masculine)	brīd-is	moment, instant	brī-tiņ-š	short moment
3 (masculine)	tirg-u-s	market	tirdz-iņ-š	small market
3 (masculine)	liet-u-s	rain	liet-iņ-š	small (amount of) rain
3 (masculine)	vid-u-s	middle, centre	vid-iņ-š	small centre
5 (feminine)	māt-e	mother	mām-iņ-a	dear mother
6 (feminine)	nakt-s	night	naks-niņ-a	dear/short night
6 (feminine)	durv-is (plural)	door	dur-tiņ-as	little door
6 (feminine)	brokast-is (plural)	breakfast	brokast-iņ-as	small breakfast
6 (feminine)	sird-s	heart	sirs-niņ-a	dear/little heart
6 (feminine)	plīt-s	stove, range	plīt-iņ-a	little stove
6 (feminine)	uzac-s	eyebrow	uzac-īt-e	dear/little eyebrow

Diminutives with -el

In addition to the more "law-abiding" diminutives already described above, there is another diminutive suffix that occurs more rarely, and is less regular in its formation. This is the diminutive suffix -el. Any diminutives formed with this suffix take the 2nd declension endings if the noun is masculine, or the 5th declension endings if the noun is feminine.

However, since the suffix is used rarely, there is no clear pattern as to which nouns will use it. Here are all the examples of this diminutive that I have been able to locate:

Declension class	Basic noun	Meaning	Diminutive with -el	Meaning	Regular diminutive
1 (masculine)	vīr-s	man	vīr-el-is	insignificant little man	vīr-iņ-š
2 (masculine)	sun-s	dog	šun-el-is	doggy, insignificant/little dog	sun-īt-is
2 (masculine)	puis-is	boy	puiš-el-is	insignificant/little boy	puis-īt-is
4 (feminine)	rok-a	hand	roķ-el-e	little hand	roc-iņ-a

Here are some interesting points to note about these examples:

a noun which can appear with an -el diminutive can, apparently, always have a regular diminutive form as well.
the -el diminutive form can have a negative (i.e. pejorative) meaning; the corresponding regular diminutive is not pejorative.
the pronunciation of certain consonants in the noun root may alter in unusual ways when an -el diminutive is suffixed. Thus, the [ s ] in the root of 'dog' and 'boy' is pronounced [ ʃ ] (and spelled š) when the -el diminutive is added. Also, the [ k ] in the root of 'hand' is pronounced [ c ] (spelled ķ) when the -el diminutive is added.

Diminutives of Adjectives

Although this usage is rare, it is possible for a few adjectives to have diminutive forms. Here are the examples:

Basic word	Meaning	Diminutive form	Meaning
maz-s	small	maz-iņ-š	very small
lab-s	good	lab-iņ-š	good and nice

Finally, please note that many of the examples and some of the organizing principles were derived from the section on diminutives (4.2.3) in Prof. Jāzeps Lelis' on-line Basic Latvian Course. Many thanks.