Dog-related diminutives

[david-us.livejournal.com]

Could some of you Russians give me some dog-related diminutive words?

Is there another form of the word собака that would be a little "cuter" ... maybe something that would be more akin in meaning to "cute little dog?"

What is the word for "puppy", for instance?

Any useful "dog words" would be appreciated - mostly along the lines of diminutives and "cuteness".

Thanks!

David Emerling
Memphis, TN
 

Comments

Dogs

[educho.livejournal.com]

Little male dog - пёсик
Puppy - щенок

Re: Dogs

[http://users.livejournal.com/_christine/]

Could you say "cute little female dog" without swearing? Or would you just use the generic собачонка?

Re: Dogs

[zhp.livejournal.com]

"собачонка" has some negative connotations, the correct variant would be собачка

Re: Dogs

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

negative connotations? I don't think so...
it's rather humouristic connotations...

Re: Dogs

[zhp.livejournal.com]

I don't think a loving pet-owner would appreciate if you call their dog собачонка. I, personally, wouldn't :)

cats

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

I must to confess that sometimes I call my cat as "драндуленция" (although her name as Dasha) and my cat does not take offence at me. Honestly...

Re: cats

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

You have a very patient cat. Mine takes offense at every single little thing.

cats and trips

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, you have many trips (abroad?) and your cat has often been alone.

(I have read your LJ - very interesting posts :)

Re: cats and trips

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Actually, I am a deadbeat cat owner. "My" cat lives with my parents now. They won't let me take her back, even now that I have an apartment that allows pets.

But she has always been very unhappy at being left alone, even for five minutes. It's my fault, I guess, since I'm the one who raised her.

Re: cats and trips

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

It's difficulty to be a cat ;) Although some people think otherwise... Someone from my friends even wanted to be a cat. Really :)

Re: cats and trips

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Oh, I want to be a cat, but only if I could be a cat who lives with my mom. Or with an Egyptian pharaoh. The effect is about the same.

Also

[educho.livejournal.com]

Deminutive - собачка, собачонка

For puppy - dialectal, in fact Ukrainian - цуцик pronounced цуцык.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

щеночек

[gazapa.livejournal.com]

Щен, собАкин, псина, собакевич, цуца and many other words that you use addressing the one you love/

[kagury.livejournal.com]

щенок, щеночек - puppy (какой очаровательный щенок)
пес - dog male (он был отличным псом)
псина - dog female, a bit negative (что это за жалкая псина?)
шавка - for small street dog female, quite negative word (убери отсюда свою шавку)
сука, сучка - dog female, often with negative accent (у этой суки недавно родились щенки)
кобель - dog male, often with negative accent also use for man who likes many different women
собака - the most neitral word

[cartesienne.livejournal.com]

щеночек, щенок. once you drift away from the strictly dictionary stuff, it might be щен, щéник.
to emphasize cuteness, if the puppy is really small and cuddly, you might say масик :))) well; it's not stronly dog-related word but it should fit in the context
otherwise, пёсик / пёсичек would be fine, though it's not necessarily a puppy, just a little dog. that's it, hope i've been helpful ))

PS

[cartesienne.livejournal.com]

i forgot щенуля, щенулька. rare and funny

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I'm getting a lot of good answers. I had no idea there would be so many variants. Are most of these diminutives gender specific? In other words, could any of these be used whether the dog was a male or a female?

David Emerling

[prorok-samuil.livejournal.com]

Собачка, собачонка - female
Пёсик - male
But either of those can be used if you are not sure about its gender.

Another word for puppy is кутенок

[memphis9535.livejournal.com]

I am afraid, no universal word for both gender,or детёныш? You can use any if you are not sure. Words for a female puppy have -a ending. Even I could call my little dog "моя девочка" for a female or "мой мальчик" for a male.

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

May say детка - it's quite neutral word (in gender sense).

genders

[memphis9535.livejournal.com]

Bingo! детка can be used both for boys and girls, neutral word, though it is feminine. "дитя" is neuter, but we can't use it for dogs and cats

детка

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

Plus - детка can be used with sincere tenderness and in ironic clue :)