Love those Diminutives!!

Diminutives--a concept that we largely don't have in English, but that is lots of fun in other languages. At least three of the languages that I have studied-German, Polish, and Russian-employ diminutives, much to my delight.

Perhaps you have just read this last paragraph and are wondering what I am talking about. What, you ask, is a diminutive? Well, let me give you an example from Polish (I could in Russian, but you most likely couldn't read it due to the different alphabet): "zaba" is the base root of the Polish word which equates to the English word "frog." But, if you add an ending of -ek or -ka to a noun in Polish, it becomes a diminutive. Hence, you can make "zaba" into "zabka" and thereby make it a diminutive. The diminutive form changes the meaning from "frog" to "little frog" or perhaps "froggie." In Polish, however, "zabka" is also a term of endearment that husbands call wives. "Oh, my little frog, how I love you"--it's great, isn't it?

Well, today during a break between lessons, I was speaking with my teacher and another worker at the school regarding diminutives, and they gave me several. Close friends can call each other "little fish" or perhaps "fishie" as well as "tender little berry." Children often call their friends "little squirrel." My teacher often calls her students "little hares." All of this, is great linguistic fun, because you can make almost anything into a diminutive, although many things are not used in that form. So, sometimes, for fun, I begin to guess and make up new ones (much to the amusement of the Russians who are present at the time) "my little keyboard" or "my little snail," etc. Sometimes I stumble upon an actual diminutive that is in use, but more often than not, I simply provide some entertainment!