Diminutives
The basic idea --to make things small, add an IE-sound to the word,
e.g. boek > boekie. Exceptions? Of course. The good news, the basic 'IE'-idea is retained, but reworked depending on the context of the word.
All diminutives are pluralized with an S-ending.
Diminutives exist in English e.g. kitty, doggie, horsie, etc. In Afrikaans diminutives are highly productive. They are used not only for things, but even for actions, e.g. "Look how sweetly the baby sleepies."
Note: Word examples below are real and fake.
A. "IE" -ending
"IE" diminutive ending for words ending in S, K, P, G, F
toeris > toerissie kas > kassie teks > teksie bees > beesie fees > feesie gees > geesie | rak > rakkie slak > slakkie amp > ampie sloop > slopie vrug > vruggie skrif > skriffie |
B. "PIE" -ending
"PIE" diminutive ending for words ending with a long vowel + M
boom >boompie kroom >kroompie doem >doempie naam >naampie | kiem >kiempie leem >leempie parfuum >parfuumpie skuim >skuimpie |
C. NG > "KIE" - Unaccented
"KIE" drop the G, and add KIE
kussing > kussinkie piesang > piesankie toiing > toiinkie koning > koninkie harsing > harsinkie | sending > sendinkie tweeling > tweelinkie betaling > betalinkie ontlading > ontladinkie kading > kadinkie |
D. NG > ETJIE - Accented
"NG" Accented - add ETJIE (sounds like 'e-KIE')
ding > dingetjie sang > sangetjie slang > slangetjie tong > tongetjie prong > prongetjie | gong > gongetjie rang > rangetjie tang > tangetjie mang > mangetjie hang > hangetjie |
E. "ETJIE" - ending
"ETJIE" (sounds like 'e-KIE') Short vowel with endings: M, N, R, or B
M | kam, som, lam, skim, lem, dom kom, bom, slim, dam, ham, rem |
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N | man, kan, lon, ton, ron, sin, son, san, sen, pen, pan, pon |
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R | mar, kar, lor, tor, bor, sir sor, sar, ser, per, par, por |
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B | mab, kab, lob, dob, rob, sib rib, sab, seb, peb, pab, sib |
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F. "TJIE / JIE"
"TJIE / JIE" (sounds like vowel twist plus -KIE)
Long vowel + N: add TJIE | ||
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maan > maantjie kraan > kraantjie loon > loontjie boon > boontjie been > beentjie | reën > reëntjie groen > groentjie skoen > skoentjie seun > seuntjie leun > leuntjie |
Vowel + T: add JIE | ||
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boot > bootjie bot > botjie sloot > slootjie slot > slotjie maat > maatjie | mat > matjie riet > rietjie rat > ratjie vraat > vraatjie vrat > vratjie |
Vowel + D: add JIE | ||
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mond > mondjie hand > handjie rand > randjie aand > aandjie sand > sandtjie | band > bandjie mand > mandjie klad > kladjie kind > kindjie huid > huidjie |