Chapter 103

DIMINUTIVES, AUGMENTATIVES, AND PATRONYMICS.

§ 268. Compared with the words _lamb_, _man_, and _hill_, the words _lambkin_, _mannikin_, and _hillock_ convey the idea of comparative smallness or diminution. Now, as the word _hillock_ = _a little hill_ differs in _form_ from _hill_, we have in English a series of _diminutive_ forms, or _diminutives_.

The English diminutives may be arranged according to a variety of principles. Amongst others:

1. _According to their form._--The word _hillock_ is derived from _hill_, by the _addition_ of a _syllable_. The word _tip_ is derived from _top_, by the _change_ of a _vowel_.

2. _According to their meaning._--In the word _hillock_ there is the simple expression of comparative smallness in size. In the word _doggie_ for _dog_, _lassie_ for _lass_, the addition of the -ie makes the word not so much a diminutive as a term of tenderness or endearment. The idea of smallness, accompanied, perhaps, with that of neatness, generally carries with it the idea of approbation; hence, the word _clean_ in English, means, in German, _little_ = _kleine_. The feeling of protection which is extended to small objects engenders the notion of endearment.

§ 269. The Greek word [Greek: meiôsis] (_meiôsis_) means diminution; the Greek word [Greek: hupokorisma] (_hypokorisma_) means an endearing expression. Hence we get names for the two kinds of diminutives; viz., the term _meiotic_ for the true diminutives, and the term _hypocoristic_ for the diminutives of endearment.

3. _According to their historical origin._--The syllable -ock, as in _hillock_, is of Anglo-Saxon and Gothic origin. The -et, as in _lancet_, is of French and classical origin.

4. _According as they affect proper names, or common names._--_Hawkin_, _Perkin_, _Wilkin_, &c. In these words we have the diminutives of _Hal_, _Peter_, _Will_, &c.

§ 270. The diminutive forms of Gothic origin are the first to be considered.

1. _Those formed by a change of vowel._--_Tip_, from _top_. The relation of the feminine to the masculine is allied to the ideas conveyed by many diminutives. Hence in the word _kit_, from _cat_, it is doubtful whether there be meant a female cat or a little cat. _Kid_ is a diminutive form of _goat_.

2. _Those formed by the addition of a letter or letters._--Of the diminutive characteristics thus formed the commonest, beginning from the simpler forms, are

Ie.--Almost peculiar to the Lowland Scotch; as _daddie_, _lassie_, _minnie_, _wifie_, _mousie_, _doggie_, _boatie_, &c.

Ock.--_Bullock_, _hillock_.

Kin.--_Lambkin_, _mannikin_, _ladikin_, &c. As is seen above, common in proper names.

En.--_Chicken_, _kitten_, from _cock_, _cat_. The notion of diminution, if indeed that be the notion originally conveyed, lies not in the -en, but in the vowel. In the word _chicken_, from _cock_, observe the effect of the small vowel on the c.

The consideration of words like _duckling_, and _gosling_, is purposely deferred.

The chief diminutive of classical origin is--

_Et_, as in _trumpet_, _lancet_, _pocket_; the word _pock_, as in _meal-pock_ = _a meal-bag_, being found in the Scottish. From the French -ette, as in _caissette_, _poulette_.

The forms -rel, as in _cockerel_, _pickerel_, and -let, as in _streamlet_, require a separate consideration. The first has nothing to do with the Italian forms _acquerella_ and _coserella_--themselves, perhaps, of Gothic, rather than of classical origin.

In the Old High-German there are a multitude of diminutive forms in -el; as _ouga_ = _an eye_, _ougili_ = _a little eye_; _lied_ = _a song_, _liedel_ = _a little song_. This indicates the nature of words like _cockerel_.

Even in English the diminutive power of -el can be traced in the following words:--

_Soare_ = a deer in its third year. _Sor-rel_--a deer in its second year.--See "Love's Labour Lost," with the note.

_Tiercel_ = a small sort of hawk, one-third less (_tierce_) than the common kind.

_Kantle_ = _small corner_, from _cant_ = _a corner_.--"Henry IV."

_Hurdle_; in Dutch _horde_; German, _hurde_. _Hording_, without the -l, is used in an allied sense by builders in English.

In the words in point we must assume an earlier form, _cocker_ and _piker_, to which the diminutive form -el is affixed. If this be true, we have, in English, representatives of the diminutive form -el so common in the High Germanic dialects. _Wolfer_ = _a wolf_, _hunker_ = _a haunch_, _flitcher_ = _a flitch_, _teamer_ = _a team_, _fresher_ = _a frog_,--these are north country forms of the present English.

The termination -let, as in _streamlet_, seems to be double, and to consist of the Gothic diminutive -l, and the French diminutive -t.

§ 271. _Augmentatives._--Compared with _capello_ = _a hat_, the Italian word _capellone_ = _a great hat_, is an augmentative. The augmentative forms, pre-eminently common in the Italian language, often carry with them a depreciating sense.

The termination -rd (in Old High German, -hart), as in _drunkard_, _braggart_, _laggard_, _stinkard_, carries with it this idea of depreciation. In _buzzard_, and _reynard_, the name of the fox, it is simply augmentative. In _wizard_, from _witch_, it has the power of a masculine form.

The termination -rd, taken from the Gothic, appears in the modern languages of classical origin: French, _vieillard_; Spanish, _codardo_. From these we get, at secondhand, the word _coward_.

The word _sweetheart_ is a derived word of this sort, rather than a compound word; since in Old High German and Middle High German, we have the corresponding form _liebhart_. Now the form for _heart_ is in German not _hart_, but _herz_.

Words like _braggadocio_, _trombone_, _balloon_, being words of foreign origin, prove nothing as to the further existence of augmentative forms in English.

§ 272.--_Patronymics._--In the Greek language the notion of _lineal descent_, in other words, the relation of the son to the father, is expressed by a particular termination; as [Greek: Pêleus] (_Peleus_), [Greek: Pêleidês] (_Peleidæs_), the son of Peleus. It is very evident that this mode of expression is very different from either the English form _Johnson_ = _the son of John_, or the Gaelic _MacDonald_ = _the son of Donald_. In these last-named words, the words _son_ and _Mac_ mean the same thing; so that _Johnson_ and _MacDonald_ are not _derived_ but _compound_ words. This Greek way of expressing descent is peculiar, and the words wherein it occurs are classed together by the peculiar name _patronymic_; from _patær_ = _a father_, and _onoma_ = _a name_.

Is there anything in English corresponding to the Greek patronymics?

Not in the _present_ English? There was, however, in the Anglo-Saxon.

In the Anglo-Saxon, the termination -ing is as truly patronymic as [Greek: -idês] in Greek. In the Bible-translation the _son of Elisha_ is called _Elising_. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle occur such genealogies as the following:--_Ida wæs Eopping_, _Eoppa Esing_, _Esa Inging_, _Inga Angenviting_, _Angenvit Alocing_, _Aloc Beonocing_, _Beonoc Branding_, _Brand Bældæging_, _Bældæg Vódening_, _Vóden Friðowulfing_, _Friðowulf Finning_, _Finn Godwulfing_, _Godwulf Geating_ = Ida was the son of Eoppa, Eoppa of Esa, Esa of Inga, Inga of Angenvit, Angenvit of Aloc, Aloc of Beonoc, Beonoc of Brand, Brand of Bældæg, Bældæg of Woden, Woden of Friðowulf, Friðowulf of Finn, Finn of Godwulf, Godwulf of Geat.--In Greek, [Greek: Ida ên Eoppeidês, Eoppa Êseidês, Êsa Ingeidês, Inga Angenphiteidês], &c. In the plural number these forms denote the _race of_; as _Scyldingas_ = _the Scyldings_, or the race of _Scyld_, &c. Edgar Atheling means Edgar of the race of the nobles.

* * * * *