Learn about diminutives in Afrikaans
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Intro |
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| Antoni: What are diminutives and how are they formed in Afrikaans? |
| Dewan: And are they commonly used? |
| Antoni: At AfrikaansPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine this scenario: Rita Dexter points out a cute kitten to her daughter, Lynne Dexter. She says, |
| "Look at that kitten!" |
| Rita Dexter: Kyk die katjie! |
| Dialogue |
| Rita Dexter: Kyk die katjie! |
| Lynne Dexter: Hoe oulik! |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Rita Dexter: Kyk die katjie! |
| Antoni: "Look at that kitten!" |
| Lynne Dexter: Hoe oulik! |
| Antoni: "How cute!" |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In the dialogue, Rita mentions a |
| Dewan: katjie |
| Antoni: instead of talking about a |
| Dewan: kat |
| Antoni: which means "cat." This is because she’s using the diminutive form to refer to a "kitten," instead of an adult "cat." A diminutive is usually formed through the attachment of an affix to a root word. The new word often describes something that is smaller or less in some way than that which the root word refers to. It can also be used as a term of endearment, or even as an insult. A simple example in English is the use of the suffix "-let." If we attach it to the word "pig," for example, we get "piglet." A piglet is a smaller version of a pig, to put it simply. In the dialogue, Rita used the Afrikaans suffix |
| Dewan: -jie |
| Antoni: to denote the diminutive form of the word for "cat." |
| Antoni: It’s important to note that there is a similar suffix that some might think is actually the same suffix. It can be found in a word like |
| Dewan: seuntjie |
| Antoni: for instance, which means "little boy." This diminutive word is a combination of the word |
| Dewan: seun |
| Antoni: or "boy," and the suffix |
| Dewan: -tjie, |
| Antoni: resulting in the diminutive |
| Dewan: seuntjie. |
| Antoni: As you can hear, the suffix at the end of |
| Dewan: katjie |
| Antoni: sounds the same as the suffix at the end of |
| Dewan: seuntjie. |
| Antoni: The difference here is in the spelling. The suffix at the end of |
| Dewan: katjie |
| Antoni: is spelled "J-I-E," while the suffix at the end of |
| Dewan: seuntjie |
| Antoni: is spelled "T-J-I-E." The reason for this is that the word |
| Dewan: kat |
| Antoni: ends with a "T," and so the diminutive suffix is actually everything after the "T." With the word for "little boy," the suffix that was used is one of the most common diminutive suffixes in Afrikaans. You will find it attached to many diminutives. Take note that it can also change the spelling of some root words. Let’s look at the word |
| Dewan: gat, |
| Antoni: for example. It refers to a "hole," such as a "hole in the ground." The Afrikaans word is spelled "G-A-T," but when we attach this common suffix to it, we have to add another "A," after the first one. The diminutive is then spelled "G-A-A-T-J-I-E" or |
| Dewan: gaatjie. |
| Antoni: It must be added here that the same suffix also follows words that end with a "D," such as the word for "hat" or |
| Dewan: hoed. |
| Antoni: The diminutive form is: |
| Dewan: hoedjie. |
| Antoni: Afrikaans speakers are quite fond of using this suffix and, besides using it to indicate diminution, will use it to express affection, as well as familiarity. |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: In this lesson, you learned that, in Afrikaans, diminutives are formed by adding a suffix to the end of a root word. The new word that is formed expresses cuteness, smallness, affection, or even, occasionally, contempt. We also discussed the difference in spelling between the diminutive words. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: Another diminutive suffix in Afrikaans is |
| Dewan: -pie. |
| Antoni: This one follows words that end in an "M," such as the Afrikaans word for "tree," which is |
| Dewan: boom. |
| Antoni: The diminutive form would then be |
| Dewan: boompie. |
| Antoni: Then, there is |
| Dewan: -kie. |
| Antoni: This diminutive suffix is spelled "K-I-E," and it follows words that end with "I-N-G." You can hear it in this diminutive of the word for "fern:" |
| Dewan: varinkie. |
| Antoni: Next is a suffix that also sounds like the very first suffix we discussed, but note that it is preceded by an "E:" |
| Dewan: -etjie |
| Antoni: It is spelled "E-T-J-I-E," and it follows words that consist of a consonant followed by a short vowel and then another consonant. An example would be the word |
| Dewan: pan |
| Antoni: meaning "pan." It’s not quite as simple as attaching the suffix, though. Instead, with short-vowel words like this, the final consonant must be doubled, resulting in a diminutive that sounds like this: |
| Dewan: pannetjie. |
| Antoni: This suffix can also be used after words ending in -B, -M, -L, -N, and -R. |
| And last, but by no means least, there is the diminutive suffix |
| Dewan: -ie |
| Antoni: This suffix follows words that end in -P, -K, -G, -S, and -F. A notable feature of this suffix is that it is found in all the diminutive suffixes. As you might have noticed, they all end with |
| Dewan: -ie |
| Antoni: and, so, if you see or hear a word that ends with this sound, you can be pretty sure it’s a diminutive. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Antoni: If you have been studying Afrikaans for a while, you will have noticed that it seldom requires an "S" for the plural of a noun. This fact gets turned on its head when it comes to diminutives. Literally all the diminutives take an "S" when they are plural. The word |
| Dewan: katjie, |
| Antoni: "kitten" for instance, becomes |
| Dewan: katjies |
| Antoni: or "kittens." And the word |
| Dewan: pannetjie |
| Antoni: "little pan" becomes |
| Dewan: pannetjies |
| Antoni: meaning "little pans" in the plural form. Another interesting feature of Afrikaans diminutives is that some of them have found their way into the lexicon as the only word for certain things. The word |
| Dewan: baadjie, |
| Antoni: which means "jacket," is one such word, and what is interesting about this is that it is possible to make a new diminutive out of it. The diminutive would then sound like this: |
| Dewan: baadjietjie. |
| Antoni: While most diminutives in Afrikaans are very similar to their Dutch counterparts, there is no such thing as a diminutive of a diminutive in the Dutch language. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Dewan: Totsiens! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Dewan (Afrikaans, Pietermaritzburg), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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