Originally Posted By: "zmjezhd"
Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
The point I was making was that a 'diminutive' denotes not just the affix itself, but the resulting word, which is bigger than the word was before the affix was affixed.

The diminutive refers not to the affix or the word, but usually the referent.



Well, it refers also to the word in one sense, as in the word pookaroonie being a diminutive of the word pook. But the meaning of the word diminutive (in this context) comes from the referent if that's what you mean. It's called a diminutive not because it diminishes the word, but because it diminishes the person the word stands for. A nickname diminishes a person's social standing. It makes them lesser in relation to you.

A diminutive can be formed by changing or subtracting from a word as well by adding an affix. Bill is a diminutive of William. But Billy is a further diminutive of Bill.

Last edited by The Pook; 02/23/2008 3:37 AM.