(no subject)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

I was wondering how one forms the diminuitive forms of nouns. I never know whether or not to add an -ик or a -шек to the end of nouns. And also, is the usage of diminuitive more common in some regions than others? In Spanish, for one, Colombians love using the diminuitive. Everything's small for us.

Comments

[rooskiyroulette.livejournal.com]

I think old women tend to use diminuitives the most.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Some Russian words do not have other forms than diminutives. There is мальчик (a boy,) but I doubt that many Russians understand that this is a diminutive from the old-fashioned (and rustic) малец (literally, the little one.) There is кошелёк (a purse,) but nobody uses its "gross" form, кошель, which was more than legitimate only some 150 years ago.
There is that funny Russian word зонт (an umbrella/a parasol,) which derives from Dutch "zondeck" (a parasol.) First it became "зонтик" in Russian (early 18th century,) but it sounded too diminutive to Russian ear because of that typical diminutive -ик suffix, so the "non-diminutive" form зонт soon evolved.

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

Beg ye pardon, it was "zonnedek"! Dutch is free from English delusion that you have to use both C and K to produce a "k" sound.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Thou art right :)

[ex-ex-zhuzh.livejournal.com]

Bad news: there's no hard and fast rule. There's a lot of diminutive suffixes! Many words form several diminutives, e.g. баран/баранчик/барашек, окно/окошко/оконце, лапа/лапка/лапочка/лапушка/лапонька. You just learn 'em all ;)

[wire-shock.livejournal.com]

And bear in mind the rule of declension:

ключик (from ключ, 'key') - ключика etc.
замочек (from замОк, 'lock') - замочка etc.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

hey, many people use bold instead of stress marks here, so it looks a little misguiding :) it's клЮчик, замОчек.

[onodera.livejournal.com]

Russian tech support operators are taught not to use diminutives when talking to clients. No «Откройте окошечко, введите ваш пароль во вторую строчечку и нажмите кнопочку OK.» [open the (little) window, enter your password into the second (little) line and press the (little) OK button], because the client might think he is being treated like a small child.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Actually, as it is said aboove, there is no "hard and fast rule." There is a lot of ways to form a diminutive, sometimes too many! Окно (a window) may become оконце, окошко or окошечко, all three being emotionally quite neutral, while человек (a human) may be человечек (a tiny man) or человечишка (a worthless nobody,) this latter being strongly charged emotionally (in a negative way.)