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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

Mkam, som, lam, skim, lem, dom
kom, bom, slim, dam, ham, rem
 

N man, kan, lon, ton, ron, sin,
son, san, sen, pen, pan, pon
 

R mar, kar, lor, tor, bor, sir
sor, sar, ser, per, par, por
 

B mab, kab, lob, dob, rob, sib
rib, sab, seb, peb, pab, sib
 

F. "TJIE / JIE"

"TJIE / JIE" (sounds like vowel twist plus -KIE)

Long vowel + N: add TJIE
maan > maantjie
kraan > kraantjie
loon > loontjie
boon > boontjie
been > beentjie
reën > reëntjie
groen > groentjie
skoen > skoentjie
seun > seuntjie
leun > leuntjie
 

Vowel + T: add JIE
boot > bootjie
bot > botjie
sloot > slootjie
slot > slotjie
maat > maatjie
mat > matjie
riet > rietjie
rat > ratjie
vraat > vraatjie
vrat > vratjie
 

Vowel + D: add JIE
mond > mondjie
hand > handjie
rand > randjie
aand > aandjie
sand > sandtjie
band > bandjie
mand > mandjie
klad > kladjie
kind > kindjie
huid > huidjie