Gramàtica · El nom i el sintagma nominal · B1 · 11 min
Diminutives and augmentatives
-ito, -ino, -inho, -el, -et: small, dear, big, and sometimes rude.
De moment, les explicacions d’aquesta secció són en anglès; els exemples són en totes les llengües.
Spoken Latin loved diminutives so much that many of them replaced the plain word: AURICULA 'little ear' pushed out AURIS, and that is why 'ear' is oreja, oreille, orecchio, orelha, ureche and orella in the six sisters. Today every sister except French still has living suffixes that make a word small, dear or polite, and most have augmentatives that make it big, clumsy or rude. The suffixes differ, but the habits are shared.
| Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | Catalan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| main diminutive | -ito, -ita (-illo, -ico in some regions) | -et, -ette (in set words; petit does the work) | -ino, -etto, -ello | -inho, -inha (-zinho) | -el, -aș, -ior (m.); -ică, -iță, -uță (f.) | -et, -eta |
| a little house | casita | une petite maison (maisonnette) | casetta | casinha | căsuță | caseta |
| a little dog | perrito | un petit chien (chiot: a puppy) | cagnolino | cachorrinho | cățeluș | gosset |
| a little | un poquito | un petit peu | un pochino | um pouquinho | puțintel | una miqueta |
| augmentative | -ón, -azo, -ote | — (gros, grand) | -one; -accio (pejorative) | -ão, -aço | rare: -oi, -oaie | -às, -assa, -ot |
| a big house | un caserón | une grande maison | un casone | um casarão | o casă mare | un casalot |
A diminutive is more often about feeling than size. Spanish un cafecito, Portuguese um cafezinho and Romanian o cafeluță are not smaller coffees, just friendlier ones. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian shrink adjectives and adverbs too: cerquita 'really close', despacito 'nice and slow', Brazilian rapidinho 'real quick', pertinho, Italian benino 'pretty well', Romanian binișor, încetișor. Shrinking can also soften a request (un momentito, um minutinho, un attimino) or play something down: Italian un regalino is a modest little present. In Mexico ahorita stretches from 'right now' to 'in a while'.
Aspetta un attimino, per favore.
Espera un momentito, por favor.
Attends une petite seconde, s'il te plaît.
Espera um minutinho, por favor.
Stai puțin, te rog.
Espera un momentet, si us plau.
Wait just a moment, please.
A shrunken moment is a polite one. French adds petit; Romanian says 'stay a little', or o clipită 'a little blink'.
Guarda il cagnolino!
¡Mira el perrito!
Regarde le petit chien !
Olha o cachorrinho!
Uite cățelușul!
Mira el gosset!
Look at the little dog!
Italian cane → cagnolino and Romanian câine → cățel → cățeluș change the stem as well. French prefers petit + noun.
Parla un pochino più piano.
Habla un poquito más despacio.
Parle un peu plus lentement.
Fala um pouquinho mais devagar.
Vorbește puțintel mai rar.
Parla una miqueta més a poc a poc.
Speak a little more slowly.
Every sister but French can shrink 'a little' itself: poquito, pochino, pouquinho, puțintel, miqueta.
Abitiamo in una casetta vicino al mare.
Vivimos en una casita cerca del mar.
On habite une petite maison près de la mer.
A gente mora numa casinha perto do mar.
Locuim într-o căsuță lângă mare.
Vivim en una caseta a prop del mar.
We live in a little house by the sea.
Ci prendiamo un caffè?
¿Nos tomamos un cafecito?
On prend un petit café ?
Vamos tomar um cafezinho?
Bem o cafeluță?
Fem un cafè?
Shall we have a coffee?
Brazilian cafezinho is the everyday name for a small black coffee. Cafecito is commoner in Latin America than in Spain. Italian and Catalan rarely shrink their coffee.
Non dire parolacce.
No digas palabrotas.
Ne dis pas de gros mots.
Não fala palavrão.
Nu spune cuvinte urâte.
No diguis paraulotes.
Don't swear.
A 'big word' is a rude one: Spanish palabrota and Catalan paraulota (-ota), Italian parolaccia (pejorative -accia), Portuguese palavrão (-ão), French gros mot. Romanian says 'ugly words'.
Fitting the suffix on
The suffix usually replaces the final vowel: casa → casita, casetta, casinha, caseta. After a consonant or a stressed vowel, Spanish adds a linking -c- (café → cafecito, camión → camioncito, amor → amorcito) and Portuguese uses -zinho (café → cafezinho, mãe → mãezinha, pão → pãozinho, whose plural marks both halves: pãezinhos). Romanian suffixes often bring a sound change (fată → fetiță, frate → frățior). Spanish -illo and Italian -uccio can sound dismissive, and Italian -accio is plainly pejorative (tempaccio 'awful weather').
Words that were born small
| Latin | Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | Catalan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AURICULAM 'little ear' | oreja | oreille | orecchio | orelha | ureche | orella |
| GENUCULUM 'little knee' | — (rodilla, from ROTELLA 'little wheel') | genou | ginocchio | joelho | genunchi | genoll |
| VETULUM 'oldish' | viejo | vieux, vieil | vecchio | velho | vechi | vell |
| CASTELLUM 'little fort' | castillo | château | castello | castelo | castel | castell |
| AGNELLUM 'little lamb' | — (cordero) | agneau | agnello | — (cordeiro) | miel | anyell |
| AVICELLUM 'little bird' | — (pájaro) | oiseau | uccello | — (pássaro) | — (pasăre) | ocell |
| SOLICULUM 'little sun' | — (sol) | soleil | — (sole) | — (sol) | — (soare) | — (sol) |
Italian goes on doing the same today: many suffixed forms are now words of their own. Spaghetti are 'little strings' (spago), a panino is a 'little bread', a telefonino a mobile phone; augmentatives give portone 'main door' (porta) and minestrone (minestra 'soup'). French did it in the past with -et, -on and -eau: fillette, jardinet, chaton 'kitten', ourson 'bear cub'.