Adjectival Diminutives in Latvian

Adjectival Diminutives in LatvianAuthor(s): Velta Rūķe-DraviņaSource: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 31, No. 77 (Jun., 1953), pp. 452-465Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4204463 .

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Adjectival Diminutives

in Latvian*

VELTA RUKE-DRAVINA

As early as 1685 Henricus Adolphi in his Erster Versuch/Einer kurtz-

verfasseten Anleitung jr?urLettischen Sprache (Mitau) gives some specimens of adverbial diminutives, and Gotthard Friedrich Stender in his Neue

vollstandigere Lettische Grammatik (Braunschweig, 1761), emphasising the

Latvian inclination to use diminutive forms, comes to the following conclusion: 'Man findet auch Adjectiva, ja so gar Adverbia in Diminu-

tivo. . .' (p. 24). Modern Latvian cannot compete with Lithuanian either in the

number of diminutive suffixes or in the frequency of their use, as in

Lithuanian a large number of adjectives appear in the diminutive form,

and, say, from the adjective maias 'small' alone some twenty forms of

diminutives can be derived (mazutis, mazy tis, mackas, maziiikas,

mazeltSy mazelelis, mazutelis, mazintdis, mazitelys, maztitelys, mazelytis,

mazutjtis, mazutelditis, mazynikas, maziunikas, mackynikas, mazutukas,

mazuciukas,1 etc.). The adjectival diminutives are not so popular in the Latvian lan?

guage as they are, for example, in the Slavonic languages,2 in Vulgar Latin or in Romance languages such as Italian or Rumanian.3 In

contrast to the Scandinavian languages, in which no adjectival diminutives usually occur, Latvian occupies a position midway between the Slavonic languages, which are rich in diminutives, and

the Germanic languages, which are poor in them.

Like the diminutives of nouns, the diminutives of adjectives are

more often used in colloquial speech than in the literary language or in

formal writing. A few examples will illustrate their frequency in

Latvian literature.

In Veja ziedi (Windflowers) by Janis Jaunsudrabins, in which some

200 diminutives are used, there is not a single adjectival dimi-

* Up to the present time there has been no special study of the diminutive forms of the adjective in Latvian, and this paper is the first attempt to give an extended systematic survey both of the possibilities of 'diminution' and of the meaning and use of adjectival diminutives. The examples have been taken from literature and from unpublished linguistic materials collected by the author herself.

1 See Pranas Skardzius, Lietuviif. kalbos iodiii^ daryba, Vil'na, 1943, pp. 180, 123, 138, !78? 355, 359 and 130. 2 Cf. V. V. Vinogradov, Russkiy yazyk, Moscow-Leningrad, 1947, p. 208; Alexander Belie, 'Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der slavischen Deminutiv- und Amplificativsuffixe' (Archiv fur slavischePhilologies XXVI, Berlin, 1904, p. 353); B. Danichij,tSrpska deminutsija i augmentatsija' (Glasnik druitva srbske slovesnosti, 12, Belgrade, i860, p. 487). 3 Cf. Sextil Puscariu, 'Die rumanischen Diminutivsuf^xe, (Jahresbericht des Instituts fur rumanische Sprache zu Leipzig, 8, Leipzig,^i902, p. 96).



ADJECTIVAL DIMINUTIVES IN LATVIAN 453

nutive; similarly no adjectival diminutive can be found among the

twenty-two diminutive forms used by Martins Ziverts in his play Vara

(Power). In Salna pavasarl (Frost in Spring) by Rudolfs Blaumanis

thirty-seven diminutives are used, and among them there is only one

adverbial diminutive druscin' 'just a little' (which is the 'petrified' form of a substantive), but there is not a single adjectival diminutive. In

Kak'isa dzirnavas (Pussy's Water Mill) by Karlis Skalbe there are

ninety-one diminutives, but this number includes only one adverbial

diminutive, which is derived from an adjective, viz. klusin'dm 'quite

silently'. In Mufk'a laime (Luck of the Simpleton), by the same author, we find one adjectival diminutive?mazin's 'very small'?among the

fifty-three diminutives, and similarly only a single adjectival diminu?

tive, again from the same adjective mais 'small', occurs as one of nearly 200 diminutives in Daugavas veji (Winds of the Daugava), a collection

of short stories by Alberts Sprudzs.

II

The diminutive derivatives of the adjectives are most commonly used in nursery language, in which, contrary to the common norms of the language, the diminutive suffix may be added to all kinds of words, i.e. to adjectives as well. In normal speech, for example in the dialect of Galgauska (E. Vidzeme), no hypocoristic-diminutive form of the

adjective balts 'white, clean' is used, but a mother washing her baby

may say: nu manam bemm'am gan ruocin'as un kajin'as bus baltin'as baltin'as, un pats viss bus ballin's ka gulbitis 'now my little baby will have its little

hands and feet quite white and will itself be as white as a swan'. The following phrases which are addressed to a small child: stavin'd

nu lielin's! 'stand up straight!', mans puisitis ir stipri slimin's6my little boy is very, very sick', gluzi bdlin's un stein's 'so pale and tiny', ted nu

ziglin'dm kajin'am 'run with quick little feet', tujau esi pa'visam slaping 'you are quite, quite wet', nuospdrdljies gluzi plikin's 'has tossed itself

quite naked', etc., would sound strange in the speech of an adult out? side the nursery.

In this respect the observations made in Latvian agree with the data of many other languages.4

4 Cf., e.g. on English, R. J. McClean, 'Germanic Nursery Words' (The Modern Language Review, 42, Cambridge, 1947, p. 353); Otto Jespersen, Growth and Structure of the English Language, Leipzig, 1919, p. io; E. Kruisinga, Diminutive en affektieve suffixen in de Germaanse talen, Amsterdam, 1942, p. 9; on German: Anton Sieberer, 'Das Wesen des Deminutivs' (Die Sprache. Zeitschrift fur Sprachwissenschaft 2, Vienna, 1950, pp. 87-8); Erich Norren- berg, 'Das westfalische Diminutivum und verwandte Erscheinungen mit besonderer Berucksichtigung der Mundarten des Kreises Iserlohn' (Niederdeutsches Jahrbuch, 49, Leip? zig, 1923, pp. 11-13); Werner Oskar Felix Hodler, Beitrdge zur Wortbildung und Wortbedeu- tung im Berndeutschen, Berne, 1911, pp. 114-15; on Swedish: R. J. McClean, 'Germanic Nursery Words' (The Modern Language Review, 42, Cambridge, 1947, pp. 354-5); on Rumanian: Sextil Puscariu, 'Au sujet des diminutifs roumains, (Etudes de linguistique



454 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

As with the diminutives of other words, the diminutives of adjectives are more often used in the speech of women than of men. This may be

explained partly by the peculiar tabou de sentiment which prevents a man

from openly expressing his tender feelings, especially those coloured

sentimentally. But it seems more credible to regard it as a heritage of the nursery style. Under modern social conditions not only the mother in her home but a large number of professional women?

governesses, teachers in kindergartens and elementary schools, educa?

tionists, physicians, etc.?in their daily work have close contact with

small children, and this lasting association gradually creates a certain

psychical disposition, which leaves characteristic traces in their

speech, not only of a lexical but of a morphological and even of an

articulatory kind.5

Certain differences in the use of adjectival diminutives may also

be observed in the Latvian dialects. In studying various dialectal

texts and collecting materials in various parts of Latvia I gained the impression that the diminutive forms were more often used in

Latgale than, for example, in Zemgale. In the Latgalian dialect there

are diminutive forms of adjectives and adverbs which are not com?

monly used in the western dialects (e.g. from vecs 'old', vesels 'sound', used even as a greeting word, atri 'quickly'), and the adjectival dimi?

nutives exhibit a variety of suffixes. The very fact that diminutives, not

only of adjectives but of nouns, are more popular in the eastern part of

Latvia than they are in other parts may be explained by the influence

of Slavonic. An illustration is offered by the adjectival diminutive

suffix -in'ks, or -en'ks (see below), borrowed from Slavonic, which

is widely used in the dialect of Latgale, but is completely unknown

to the western dialects. For comparison we may point to Ruma?

nian, in which Slavonic influence has also encouraged a tendency to a wider use of diminutives: 'Durch slavischen Einfluss bekamen

die rumanischen c-Suffixe grossere Lebenskraft, ja es gibt c-Ab-

leitungen, die ganz an das Slavische erinnern' (Sextil Puscariu,

roumaine, Cluj-Bucuresti, 1937, p. 308); on Russian: Y. E. Mandel'shtam (Mandelstam), 'Ob umen'shitel'nykh suffiksakh v russkom yazyke so storony ikh znacheniya {^hurnai Ministerstva Narodnogo Prosveshcheniya, t. 348, St Petersburg, 1903, July, pp. 34-66, August, PP- 3I7-53)- 5 A characteristic case is described by Elise Richter in her 'Das psychische Geschehen und die Artikulation* (Archives nierlandaises dephonitique expirimentale, 13, The Hague, 1937, pp. 48-9). She tells how a doctor in his attempt to speak in a very soft and tender tone to his women-patients used to damp the vibrations of his r-sounds to such an extent that r sometimes completely disappeared. Later this manner of speaking became second nature with him, and he used it when talking to members of his own family or to intimate friends. A similar case is known to my own experience. A teacher staying with the family of her friend for several weeks and playing daily with an eighteen-months-old boy frequently used the diminutive forms common to nursery language. One evening, while walking with the mother of the little boy, she pointed to a small dog and said spontaneously in the same meliorative tone: Redz, kur mazin'S sunttis! 'look, what a tiny little doggie!*, but, aware of the stylistic mistake, immediately added: 'I am talking to you as if I were taking a walk with the boy.'




'Die rumanischen Diminutivsuffixe', Jahresbericht des Instituts fur rumanische Sprache zu Leipzig, 8, Leipzig, 1902, p. 142).

III

If we compare substantival with adjectival diminutives in Latvian, we shall see that the latter are used rather infrequently. Sometimes even

the very formal signs of diminutives show that the diminutives of adjec? tives are less common than those of nouns. Every time one uses an adjec? tival diminutive one seems to derive it anew from its base. That is why the connection between the basic adjective and its diminutive form is

closer than it is with nouns, where a frequently used diminutive will

detach itself from its base not only in meaning but formally. For

instance, according to a common rule of phonetic change in Latvian, k and g have become c and dz respectively before the suffix -in'sin the

diminutive forms of adjectives whose meaning permits of their frequent use as diminutives, e.g. siks 'tiny', dim. stein's; smalks 'fine', dim. smal-

cin'f; nabags 'poor', dim. nabadzin'L However, in adjectives which are

rarely used in their diminutive forms, k and g in similar position remain unchanged, e.g. pliks 'naked', dim. plikin's; sveiks 'well', dim.

sveikin's; jauks 'nice', dim. jaukin's; smuks 'handsome', dim. smukin'f; tanks 'fat', dim. taukin's; brangs 'vigorous', dim. brangin's, while in the

nouns, with the exception of the most typical dialectal forms or derivatives from recently borrowed foreign words, the norm is that the k and g of the basic form are changed into c and dz in the correspond? ing diminutives (cf. maks 'purse', dim. marin's, or rags 'horn', dim.

radzin'f). A similar formal symptom, which may perhaps be explained by the

rare use of adjectival diminutives, is the change of the root vowel in

the High Latvian dialects. The rule for nouns in these dialects is that instead of the -0- of the base there is an -a- in the diminutive form before -in's, or -en's, e.g. kolns 'hill', dim. kalnen's, but in the adjectival diminutives the vowel of the base remains unchanged, e.g. lobs 'good5, dim. loben's.

Even more characteristic are the data of those High Latvian dialects in which the phonetic change peculiar to substantives is also

undergone by those adjectives which easily lend themselves to use as diminutives. For instance, in Prauliena (E. Vidzeme) the diminutive form of the adjective smolks 'fine' (which is often used) is formed by a

regular change of the root vowel as in nouns, viz. smalcin'c. But the

rarely used diminutive form of the adjective/?/0fo 'broad' maintains its vowel unchanged: plotin'c (in the same dialect, cf. FBR* VI, p. 85).

6 In this and the following quotations FBR = Filologu Biedribas Raksti, Riga, 20 volumes, 1921-40.




A similar example may be cited from the dialect of Krustpils, where

the adjective lobs 'good'?and only this adjective?may become a

diminutive either with or without change of vowel, i.e. lobin'c or

tobin's. It must be mentioned that 'good' is one of those adjectives which are often used in the diminutive form.

We may notice that a similar relation between the frequent use of

the diminutive on the one hand and its formal signs on the other

sometimes exists in nouns. If a noun is almost never used as a

diminutive, this form may be derived simply by adding the diminutive

suffix and leaving the root vowel unchanged. For instance, in the

diminutive sudobren's (from sudobrs 'silver'), which appears in some

Latgalian folk-songs, but is otherwise rarely used, the -0- of the base

remains, although, according to the phonetic norm of this dialect, an

-fl- might be expected.7 The number of suffixes which form adjectival diminutives is

considerably smaller than that of suffixes forming substantival diminu?

tives. As well-known productive suffixes of the latter in Literary Lat?

vian we maymention: -in's, fem. -in'a;-itis, fem. -tte; -elis, fem. -eic, -ens', -uks and in the dialects also -ene (e.g. gultene from gulta 'bed', suntene

from suns 'dog',pirkstenes frompirksti 'fingers'); -uza (e.g. Annuza from

Anna, mdtuza from mate 'mother'); -uska (e.g. meituska from meita

'daughter') and some others, whereas adjectival diminutives up to

the present have to all intents and purposes only the suffix -in's, fem. -in'a,

e.g. labs 'good', fem. laba, dim. labin's, fem. labin'a. In those dialects in

which substantival diminutives are derived by adding -en's, fem. -en'a instead of -in's, fem. -in'a, the corresponding adjectival diminutives are formed in a similar way, viz. laben's, fem. laben'a. If the substantival

diminutive suffix is -ins, this also occurs in the adjectival diminutive,

e.g. kudins (from kuds 'weak') as used in the dialect of Dunika (Kur?

zeme). Sometimes however no such perfect harmony exists between the

forms of the diminutive suffixes of substantives and adjectives of the

same stem-type. For instance, in the dialect of Aizupe (Kurzeme) I

have heard the following forms from the same person: labin's (from labs

'good'), tievin's (from tievs 'slender'), bernis (from hems 'child'), zirdzis

(from zirgs 'horse'), i.e. adjectival diminutives ending in -in's and substantival diminutives with this suffix changed to -is.

Besides the foregoing suffix of adjectival diminutives -in's (with some variations in the dialects), there is also the suffix -in'ks, or -en'ks, which is relatively productive, but restricted to the eastern part of High Lat-

7 A similar concord between apophony and frequent use as a diminutive is known in Germanic: cf. 'Worter, die haufig in der Diminutivform auftreten, werden in der Regel umgelautet sein, wahrend in Bildungen vom Tage der Umlaut leicht unterbleibt' (W. O. F. Hodler, Beitrdge zur Wortbildung und Wortbedeutung im Berndeutschen, Berne, 1911, p. 129).




vian. The data come from the dialects of Baltinava (FBR XI, p. 132), Cibla (FBR VI, p. 38), Karsava (FBR XII, p. 53), Liepna,8 Pilda

(FBR XIII, p. 48), Preili (FBR VIII, p. 11), Varaklani (FBR XV,

p. 54) and Zvirgzdene (FBR X, p. 28), but similar forms are probably used in other dialects of Latgale. Exceptionally in Preili the suffix is

-en'ks, whereas in all other places it is -in'ks, e.g. mozin'ks 'small' at

Zvirgzdene, mozen'ks 'small' at Preili. The same suffix occurs not only in adjectives but in adverbs derived from adjectives, e.g. dtrin'ki, dtrin'ki! 'quickly, quickly!' (when hurrying a child) and rarely even

in numerals, e.g. obin'ki 'both' in the dialect of Pilda (FBR XIII,

P- 52). As a rule, adjectival diminutives of this kind are unknown to Lat?

vian outside the above-mentioned parts of Latgale, but diminutives

with this suffix are very common in Russian and White Russian (cf.

zdoroven'kiy, malen'kiy, dobren'kiy, W.R. chornyen'ki, staren'ki, sheran'ki9), and it may be taken for granted that this suffix was borrowed from the

Slavs by the East Latvians. There is every reason to suppose this, because diminutives in general are more common in Slavonic than in

Latvian, because the eastern Latvian dialects seem to be richer in

diminutives than the western, and because even in the eastern and

southern dialects of Lithuanian, in which Slavonic influence is

stronger, there are diminutives with borrowed Slavonic suffixes (e.g. grazitkas 'quite nice', adv. ankstitkai 'quite early' (cf. Pol. raniutko, W.R.

ranyutko), pilnickas 'quite full', senickas 'very old', etc. (See Pranas Skar-

zius, Lietuviu kalbos zodziu daryba, p. 123; Ernst Fraenkel, 'Das im

Wilnagebiete gesprochene Litauisch', Balticoslavica, 2, Vil'na, 1936,

PP- 55-7)- In comparison with substantival diminutives, adjectival diminu?

tives rarely exhibit the conjunction of several suffixes. Actually there

are only two types, of which the double diminutive suffix -itin's is the

more common, e.g. ma'zitin's (from mazs 'small') in the dialect of

Dzukste (Zemgale) or ma'g'itin's at Dunika (S. Kurzeme) (EH10 sub

voce), ma'zitis at Dundaga (FBR V, 136), ma'zitis 'small', tie'vitis

'thin, slender', le'nltls 'slow',pld'nitls 'thin' at Stende (Kurzeme). The

other, less popular and restricted mainly to the dialects of Zemgale, is the combination -min's, e.g. tie'vinin's 'thin, slender', ma'zinin's 'small' at Lestene (FBR XV, p. 22), pld'ninin's 'thin', ma'zinin's 'small' at

Dzukste. 8 Where sources are not specified, the information derives from unpublished material

on Latvian dialects, either collected by the author herself or placed at her disposal. 9 Cf. Alexander Belief 'Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der slavischen Deminutiv- und AmplificativsufFixe' (Archivfur slavische Philologie, XXVI, Berlin, 1904, pp. 353 and 355); Ya. Stankyevich, Padruchnik kryvitskaye (byelaruskaye) movy, Regensburg, 1947, pp. 95~6\ 10 In this and subsequent quotations EH = J. Endzelin und E. Hausenberg, Erganzungen und Berichtigungen zu K. Muhlenbachs Lettisch-deutschem Worterbuch, 1-2, Riga, 1934-46.




IV

Unlike White Russian, for instance, in which diminutive forms

are said to be derived from practically every adjective,11 Latvian has

adjectives which are never used as diminutives, and not all its ad?

jectival diminutives are equally common. Judging from collected

material, the meaning of the base appears to be significant. Adjectives which in their basic meaning indicate something small, fine, minute, are most prone to affect a diminutive form, e.g. mazs 'small' (which

produces the greatest number of diminutives considering both as

regards variety of suffix and frequency of use), siks 'tiny', smalks

(fine', plans 'thin', tievs 'slender', saurs 'narrow', viegls 'light', iss 'short'.

To this group we may add jauns 'new; young'. Besides these, adjectives expressing qualities of goodness and

affection often occur as diminutives (e.g. labs 'good', miff 'dear'); also,

though mostly in language addressed to children or the sick, adjectives

expressing such notions as weakness, inability and other similar

qualities, which evoke feelings of sympathy, e.g. slims 'sick', klibs

'lame', kliens 'thin', vajs 'weak', kuds 'scraggy' (in dialects), slikts 'sick,

weak', bah 'pale', nabags 'poor', pliks 'naked', dumjs 'silly', glups 'silly', vecs 'old'.

Further I have been able to find diminutives derived from the

following adjectives: liels 'large', dizs 'grand', pravs 'substantial', gar's

'long', ilgs 'long' (of time), augsts 'high', brangs 'stout', tukls 'stout', tanks

'fat', apafs 'round', sveiks 'well', vesels 'healthy', stiprs 'strong', balts

'white', maigs 'tender', gilts 'handsome', lens 'slow', miksts 'soft', kluss

'silent', saids 'sweet', pilns 'full', raibs 'variegated', bruns 'brown', ratns

'modest', sauss 'dry', sekls 'shallow', skaists 'beautiful', slapjs 'wet', smuks 'handsome', tnmss 'dark'. Whereas the adjectival diminutives

mentioned earlier are relatively common, even in the speech of adults, the diminutives of the foregoing adjectives occur only in nursery lan?

guage or as the peculiarities of individual speech in certain situations.

V

The diminutive suffix in Latvian may be attached to an adjective, not only in the positive but in the comparative and superlative

degrees. In such cases the diminutive element is placed before the com?

parative suffix as in Lithuanian, e.g. labin'dks 'slightly better', cf. Lith.

gerelesnis; hals 'pale', dim. balin's, comp, bdlin'dks, superl. vis'balin'akais

(in the dialect of Stende); bernin's piedzimis tik stein's, ka vairs sicin'dks

nevareja but 'the child was born so tiny that it could be no tinier' (at 11 Cf. Ya. Stankyevich, Padruchnik kryvitskaye (byelaruskqye) movy, Regensburg, 1947, p. 96

('Ad kazhnaha prymyetnika yos'tsyeka khorma lyubasnaya').




Geri); Lienas berm ir tads pats ka citi berni, bet tik drusku slcin'dks 'Liena's

child is like other children, only a bit tinier' (in the novel Mernieku laiki

by the brothers Kaudzite); nu jau caji ir lielin'dki 'the chickens are

already bigger now' (at Saldus, see EHs.v. lielin's). In some Latvian dialects the diminutive suffix may be placed after

the comparative suffix, as it is in Latin, e.g. lobuok'en? (pronounced thus in the dialect of Varaklani, Latgale, FBR XI, p. 109). Compare the Latin meliusculus 'approximately, or somewhat, or a little, better',

fortiusculus 'somewhat more brave'.12 Also the meaning of Latvian

adjectival diminutives of the comparative degree mostly agrees with

that of the corresponding forms in Latin and Lithuanian, viz. they indicate a slighter increase of the quality than that which is expressed

by a simple comparative, e.g. garin'dks 'a little longer', labin'dks 'a little

better', and a similar nuance is expressed by the adverbial diminutive

in the comparative degree derived from an adjectival stem, e.g. zemin'dk 'slightly lower'.

VI

If we analyse the different meanings which the adjective receives

when the diminutive suffix is attached to it in Latvian, we must under?

line first of all that it does not reduce the quality expressed by the

basic form, but, on the contrary, intensifies and stresses it.13 Because

diminutives are usually derived from adjectives which qualify some?

thing small, minute, the diminutive form emphasises this smallness, or

minuteness, even more: mazin's 'quite small' shows the smallness more

clearly than the basic mazs 'small'; stein'Jf (from siks 'tiny') means

really 'quite tiny'. The following example which was recorded at

Geri (N. Vidzeme): tai liepin'ai ir smalcin'as lapin'as 'this lime-tree has

rather fine leaves', denotes that the lime-tree has finer leaves than it

would be said to have if the word were qualified by the basic adjective. For this reason it is common to use the diminutive of mazs 'small' in

opposition to liels 'large' to obtain a more accentuated effect. This may be illustrated with some examples from Latvian literature. In the short

story Asaras (Tears) by Janis Poruks mazin's 'quite small' is the only

adjectival diminutive used. The giant is compared with his insignifi? cant surroundings.

' Tu esi liels un specigs! Tu raudi! Jd, es zinu, kdpec tu

raudi! Tev viss izrddds tik niecigs, tik mazin's, tu vienlgs esi liels! 'You are

big and strong! You are crying! Yes, I know why you are crying!

Everything seems so insignificant, so very small; you alone are big!' Alberts Sprudzs, in Daugavas veji (Riga, 1937, p. 89), comparing

12 See W. Petersen, 'Latin Diminution of Adjectives* (Classical Philology, XII, Chicago, 1917, p. 62). 13 Such adjectival derivatives as saldens 'slightly sweet', zilgans 'slightly blue', etc., which denote a lower degree of a quality, are left unnoticed in this connection.




old houses to a newly-built farmhouse uses mazin's 'rather small':

'Lida desmit luogn un diviem drdurvju caurumiem, vin'a stdveja derna

vidu, aizenuodama sauli daudzn kaimin'u buddm. Ja, tagad mes td varejdm saukt visas parejos majuoklus, juo tie izskatijas tik mazin'i 'Large and

with the openings of ten windows and two outer doors, it stood in

the middle of the village, hiding the sun from many a neighbouring cabin. Yes, now we could call all the other dwellings by this name, for they looked so small.'

A similar intensification of quality may be felt in other adjectival

diminutives, e.g.jaunin's 'very young, youthful, quite inexperienced', klnsin's 'rather silent, quiet', e.g. bet nu gan bnsim klusin'i ka petites 'but

now let us be as quiet as mice', tievin'J? 'quite slender', etc., and these

nuances also occur in adverbial diminutives; cf. klusin'dm 'rather

silently', Which denotes a deeper silence than that described by the

basic form klusu 'silently'; agrvnttin' 'very early', while agri means

'early', etc.

This intensification of the qualities expressed in the basic word is

sometimes stressed by adverbs preceding the diminutive adjective or

adverb, e.g. gluzi jaunin's 'quite young', pa'visam mazin'i 'quite small',

stipri vieglin's" 'very light', pdrdk smalcin'H 'too fine', tik fuoti tievin's 'so

very slender'.

A combination of two diminutive suffixes used instead of one may occur in Latvian for still greater emphasis. For instance, the basic word

plans 'thin', the diminutive pldnin's 'quite thin' and the 'super- diminutive' (with two suffixes) pld'nitin's 'very very thin' seem to

express three degrees of thinness.

Another way of intensifying a quality is by repeating the diminu?

tive adjective, e.g. tik vieglin's, tik vieglin's'so very light', stein'as stein'as

sejin'as 'very, very small faces', or to place the diminutive form after

the basic word: mazs mazin's 'quite small', smalks smalcin's 'quite fine', viens vienin's 'quite alone'. Adverbs may be used in a similar fashion,

e.g. klusu klusin'dm 'quite silently', Uni lenltem 'very slowly', etc.

Analogous expressions are known to the languages belonging not

only to the Baltic and Slavonic groups14 (cf., for example, Serbo-

Croatian pun puncat 'quite full', Russian on byl bol'nym bol'nyshen'kim 'he was very sick'), but in other Indo-European languages (e.g. Italian solo soletto 'quite lonely').

Proceeding along the same lines, we may introduce a third com?

ponent?an adjective of the same root with several diminutive suffixes,

e.g. mazs mazin's mazt'titin's (base + diminutive + diminutive with

14 Cf. E. Hofmann, Ausdrucksverstarkung. Untersuchungen zur etymologischen Verstarkung und zum Gebrauch der Steigerungsadverbia im Balto-Slavischen und in anderen indogermanischen Sprachen, Gottingen, 1930, p. 15; Alexander Belie, 'Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der slavischen Deminutiv-und Ampiificativsuffixe' (Archiv fur slavische Philologie, XXVI, Berlin, 1904, PP- 335-6).




three suffixes) 'very very small' or klusu klusin'dm klusvtitiridm 'very

very silently'. It is interesting to observe here that it is not common to find in

Modern Latvian substantives of such intensity that they require their diminutive to be preceded by its base, but this sort of thing sometimes

occurs in folk-songs, e.g. ekur puika puisenin's! 'look, what a brave boy!', brinums bija brinumin's 'what a marvel it was!', ai vagari vaganti! cO steward, steward!'

We see that the use of adjectival diminutives in Latvian, even in this

respect, disagrees with the use of substantival diminutives.

Besides intensity, the other not less important shade of meaning which may be expressed by the suffix of the adjectival diminutive is

affection, and most adjectival diminutives in Latvian have a hypocoristic undertone. Diminutives are commonly derived from adjectives whose basic meaning expresses such qualities (labs 'good', miff 'dear'), and the addition of the diminutive suffix intensifies the meaning of the basic word. But diminutives may also be derived from adjectives which do not denote affection in their basic form. Here the reason for the choice of a diminutive may be a favourable attitude towards a person

(sometimes towards a thing), which is expressed by the particular

adjective. For instance, mazin'ais 'the rather small' (in dialects also the

indefinite form mazin's), as a substantive, now denotes 'baby' and is

also used as a term of endearment among adults, as it expresses a much

stronger feeling of affection than the basic form mazais 'the small'.15 A

similar favourable tone pertains to most adjectival diminutives found in fthe speech of nursemaids addressing children: tuklin'as ruocin'as

'plump little hands', pats smukin'sun baltin's'ht (himself) is so nice and

white', apafin'as ciscin'as 'nicely rounded little hips'. Even negative qualities in such circumstances are somehow shaded and diminished, and the diminutive suffix colours them almost melioratively. When the normal dumjs 'silly' is replaced by the corresponding diminutive in

addressing a child: cik tu gan esi dumin's! 'how silly you are!', the earnest and angry condemnation turns into affectionate reproach.

Although goodwill is naturally directed for the most part towards a person, yet the Latvian love of animals and nature may similarly determine the use of an adjectival diminutive. A pleasant illustration of this is presented by Peteris Ermanis in his essay 'The Flowers'

(Daugava, Stockholm, 1947, 1, pp. 13-24), from which some typical examples may be quoted: Musmajds atraitnites ziedeja duobes, bija

pieskaitamas kuopjamam un audzejamam, taddm 'kungu sugas' puk'em, bet uz lanka un ganibas savvaf a ziedeja pa'visam mazin'as atraitnites, slcin'as sicin'as

15 As a parallel cf. the nuance of the English form Uti (for 'little'), mentioned in W. Horn, 'Triebkrafte der Lautentwicklung im Englischen' (Archivfiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen, 185, Braunschweig, 1945, pp. 8-9).




sejin'as, vii millgakas, bet arl it ka vii vairdk saptknsas (p. 15) 'In dur

garden the pansies were blooming in their beds; they were regarded as

flowers of noble birth to be cultivated and cared for, but in the fields

and pastures there bloomed at liberty quite small pansies, with very fine little faces, more lovely, but in a way even more puckered', or?

speaking of the wild camomile (p. 19): tds ir pa'visam sikas puk'ttes, mazin'dm tundfdzeltendm galvin'dm, vieglu smarzin'n 'they are quite tiny little flowers with rather small, dark-yellow heads and a very delicate

scent'.

Like substantival diminutives, adjectival diminutives are often used

in connection with notions of luxury, food and drink. Bread can be

mlkstin'a ka vilna 'quite soft as wool', the crust of a loaf can be baked

skaisti brunin'a 'nicely brown', and mazin'ais 'the small' used in this

way as a noun may denote a glass of brandy: iedzert mazin'no 'to drink

a glass of brandy'. The market-women of Riga before the war des?

cribed their kippers as smoked 'so nicely brown and fat'?brimin'as un

taukin'as.

Among adjectives which are often used as diminutives a quite large

percentage denote in their basic form a physical or mental deficiency.

Compassion is aroused towards the unfortunate subject, and regret and pity mingle in a general feeling of sympathy. We may observe here that compassion is also the impulse behind the use of substantival diminutives in Latvian. That is why the diminutives of both nouns and

adjectives are commonly used in addressing or speaking about an

ailing person: rik tu esi sliktin'ipalicis, savu smagno vdjlbu izgnlijis 'how

very weak you are after your severe illness' (in the dialect of Gal-

gauska); mans dilin'sir stipri sliminTmy little son is very very sick' (at

Valdemarpils16); vin'a ir tdda klienin'a 'she is so very thin' (at Ivande,

steFBRVI, p. 48). It is only natural that this category includes many examples

referring to children, provided that such qualities as weakness,

helplessness or ignorance cause them to be regarded as needing protection: rik tad sis nu lielin's, vii jan mazin's un smalcin's 'he is not big at

all, he is still rather small and delicate', bemin's slaping, jdlieksausa dribtte kldt! 'baby is quite wet; I must take a dry nappie', pic slimuosanas

palicis hahn's 'he is quite pale after his sickness', neesi nu tik biklin's 'don't be so shy', etc.

A certain interest attaches to diminutives derived from adjectives

denoting something large and powerful, e.g. liels 'large', dizs 'grand',

prdvs 'substantial', gar's 'long', stiprs 'strong', tukls 'stout', brangs 'stout', and even angsts 'high' (cf. Tas Dievs augstin's, kas tetf radtfs 'The high God who has created thee' in a hymn by Chr. Fiirecker). In these cases

u See Rakstu Krdjums, Rigas latvieSu biedribas Zinibu komisijas izdots, Riga, 1924, XVII, p. 53.




the diminutive suffix somehow reduces the expressed proportions,

showing them on a human scale. It seems that some significance in the

development of these shades of meaning may be ascribed to the fact

that such adjectival diminutives are commonly used only in connec?

tion with small children, qualifying their limbs or belongings, and for

this reason they rather denote a relative measure. For example, the

diminutive lielin's from liels 'large' is frequently used to encourage a

child to stand steady, to grow fast, etc., e.g. staid lielin's! 'stand steady!'

(cf. a parallel phrase in Lithuanian: stdk didutis!), audz lielin's! 'grow

big!' As such phrases are addressed to a child which is not yet able to

walk and as it is emphasised that it may grow big quickly, we may draw the conclusion that this form denotes a desirable growth and not

an unnatural one. Similarly delight in healthy plumpness is expressed in the following phrase: has tev par tuklin'u delin'u! 'what a nice and

plump little son you have!'

Diminutives of nouns in Latvian are also often used in a pejorative or ironical sense, and even the earliest grammars indicate this Latvian

tendency.17 The adjectival diminutives, however, are rarely used in such a sense. In contrast to nouns, in which, for instance in the

literary language, the suffix -elis gives a pejorative sense, which the common suffix -in's or -itis does not possess, adjectives make no such

discrimination. In certain situations, however, when an adjectival diminutive is purposely used with a quite different meaning from that

expressed by the adjective itself, the diminutive acquires an ironical

tone, e.g. nu esi gan tu varen labin's un mtfin's 'well, you are very kind and

pleasant, aren't you!' may be said to a person who acts unkindly or dis?

honestly. The same may be said also if an adjective denotes a quality which, when presented as a diminutive, degrades its bearer, e.g. to be called young is quite pleasant, but a young man loses much of his self-

respect if we call him jaunin's (from joans 'young'), which indicates his inexperience and immaturity, as in: sims lietas tu nu esi vel gluzi

jaunin's! 'you are still quite young in these matters'.

In Latvian, adjectives which are used in common phrases of saluta? tion may sometimes also be used as diminutives. Greeting a child and sometimes even an adult, though in this case somewhat jocularly, we

may say: lab'ntin'! 'good morning!' or lab'dienin'! 'good day!' instead of

the common lab'rit! or lab'dien! Exactly in the same way, forms of

greeting which were originally adjectives, e.g. sveiki! (norn. pl. from

sveiks 'well'), are often used in the diminutive form sveikin'i! In

Latgale veseli! is commonly used instead of sveiki!, and this often

appears in the diminutive form, e.g. vasalen'i, vasalen'i! (as in the dialect of Viski). Bidding goodbye to one another, the young people

17 Cf. Henricus Adolphi, Erster Versuch/ Einer kurtz-verfasseten Anleitung/ Zur Lettischen Sprache, Mitau, 1685, p. 16.




of Riga often used visn labin'n! instead of the common visn labu!

'all the best'.18

VII

Summarising the use of adjectival diminutives in Latvian, we may observe that the main reason for it is a particular feeling?compassion,

sympathy, affection, tenderness or sincerity?which prevails in the

relations between adult and child. For this reason the diminutive forms

of adjectives, perhaps even more than those of nouns, are connected

with emotion.

From a purely formal point of view we also find certain peculiarities in the diminutives of adjectives and adverbs in Latvian which are

otherwise characteristic only of emotional speech. Thus, for instance, shift of stress is not common in the diminutives of nouns (apart from a few petrified forms now used as adverbs, e.g. drus'cttin' 'just a

little', maz'lietin' 'a very little') unless they occur in emphatic words or

phrases of an emotional character,19 but it is a rather frequent

phenomenon in adjectival diminutives. In derivatives with a single diminutive suffix shift of stress to the second syllable has been

recorded, e.g. in the dialect of Gramzda in the form ma'zina 'quite small' (FBR IX, p. 94), and it is normal in derivations with the

suffixes -itin'sand -min's, e.g. ma'zitis'very small', li'nitis 'very slow'in

the dialect of Stende or ma'zinin's" 'very small', pld'ninin's 'very thin' in

Dzukste. In dialects in which adjectival diminutives have as many as

three suffixes, even the third syllable may be stressed, e.g. mazi'titis

'quite small' in Stende. A parallel shift of stress may be observed

also in adverbs derived from an adjectival base, e.g. li'nitin'dm 'quite slowly', klwsitin'dm 'quite silently', agrvnltin' 'quite early', whereas in

the basic forms of these adverbs the first syllable is stressed.

As signs of emotional speech we may also mention the unexpected

palatalisation of the radical consonant before a diminutive suffix.

Such a 'softened' consonant, replacing the 'unsoftened' consonant of

the basic word, sometimes occurs also in substantival diminutives,

e.g.puisis 'boy', dim. puilelis; caurums 'hole', dim. caurnmelis; suns 'dog', dim. (in some dialects) sunis, and usually has either a pejorative or a

hypocoristic connotation according to form and dialect. As the number

of adjectives which can take diminutive suffixes is markedly smaller

than that of nouns, examples with the softened consonant among

18 The addition of a diminutive suffix to the basic form of a salutation is not confined to Latvian. The people of Copenhagen say Goddags! (with the diminutive -s) and the Germans of East Prussia adibchenl Cf. K. Moller, Diminutiver i moderne Dansk. Produktive (levende) Dannelser, Copenhagen, 1943, p. 33, and Anton Sieberer, 'Das Wesen des Deminu- tivs* (Die Sprache, 2, Vienna, 1950, p. 88). 19 A similar change of stress in diminutive forms is known in Hebrew. Cf. M. Altbauer, 'O technice zdrobnieh i spieszczeh we wspolczesnej hebrajszczyznie' (Lingua Posnaniensis, 1, Poznan, 1949, p. 196).




adjectival diminutives are rather few. Probably no such examples are

to be found in Literary Latvian, and we shall therefore mention one

taken from the north-western dialect of Kurzeme: mazs 'small', dim. maBsov ma'&tis or maZi'titif (in the neighbourhood of Stende). In this dialect the diminutive suffix -in's" is phonetically changed into

-is, from which we may assume that z for z in the basic word resulted,

perhaps, from assimilation of the -I of the ending. Part of the adjectival diminutives used in Latvian may be under?

stood as of the whole phrase. This means that the predominant tone of emotion in a certain situation may also be transferred to the words

which, sometimes quite accidentally, are spoken at that moment. In

other terms, the spirit which animates the entire context touches its

component parts, and the diminutive suffix is added to the adjective which is only a part of this unit. Deformity or any other physical defect

may arouse sympathy towards its victim and lead to the use of the

diminutive form of not only his name but of the words for the attributes

associated with him. To quote V. V. Vinogradov,20 the adjective

agrees with the corresponding substantive not only in gender, number

and case, but also in mode of expression. In Latvian, however, the

formal agreement between the substantive and the qualifying adjec? tive as regards the diminutive suffix is not complete. Thus, the

adjective, although used attributively, may sometimes not assume

diminutive form even though the corresponding substantive is a

diminutive (e.g. mdja maziem zemiem luodzin'iem 'a house with small, low

windows'; puiselis baltu galvin'u 'a little boy with a little fair head') and, vice versa, the diminutive attributive adjective may be connected

with a substantive without a diminutive suffix, e.g. fauriria izkapts

'quite narrow scythe'; smalciri$pavediens 'quite fine thread'.

Yet a general tendency towards such concord can be observed, and

it is very common in Latvian too, at least in cases when the adjectival diminutive is used as attribute or predicate together with a substantive, for the qualified substantive to appear also in the diminutive form

(e.g. iet sicin'iem suolUiem 'to take very short steps', istabin'a ir

pa'visam mazin'a 'the room is quite small').

20 Cf. V. V. Vinogradov, Russkiy yazyk. Grammaticheskoye ucheniye o stove, Moscow- Leningrad, 1947, p. 208.



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Adjectival Diminutives in Latvian