Can diminutive function (i.e. smaller size) be marked by a shift of noun class? We are looking for morphemes in the sentence which vary depending on the noun used, and whether one of these morphemes can be used to change the meaning of a noun by adding the meaning ‘small’. This needs to be a productive pattern. Diminutive function often also entails other meanings, but it needs to minimally encode smaller size.
Shona (ISO 639-3: sna, Glottolog: shon1251)
Coded 1. In the Bantu language Shona "The prefixes of classes 13 and 12 are used only in secondary function. Nouns with these prefixes all signify small things. Usually, these are regarded in a favourable light as pleasing to the eye, but sometimes the effect of these diminutives may be derogatory when the prefixes are used with a stem which otherwise indicates something large or important." (Fortune 1955: 94)
a. munhu ka-munhu ‘person’ 12-person ‘small person’ (Fortune 1955: 94) b. murume ka-murume ‘man’ 12-man ‘small man’ (Fortune 1955: 94)
Pite Saami (ISO 639-3: sje, Glottolog: pite1240)
Coded 0. In Pite Saami, there is a diminutive suffix which attaches to the noun stem indicating smaller size. This diminutive is not expressed by a shift in gender/noun class.
ja danne vuojdni-v unna jåŋå-tja-v and there see-1SG.PST small lingonberry-DIM-ACC.SG ‘And there I saw a little lingonberry.’ (Wilbur 2014: 196)
Dahl, Östen. 2006. Diminutives and augmentatives. In Keith Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 594–595. Second edition. Oxford: Elsevier.
Fortune, George. 1955. An analytical grammar of Shona. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
Wilbur, Joshua Karl. 2014. A grammar of Pite Saami. Berlin: Language Science Press.
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0 | absent | 1690 | |
1 | present | 153 | |
? | Not known | 288 |
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