Grammatica - loco
Grammatica - loco Grammatica - loco
1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 12111 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 41111 7.5.2 Semantic implications of the diminutive It is particularly the nuances of meaning expressed by the diminutive which make it so peculiarly unique in Dutch but also so difficult for nonnative speakers to master. The following can only serve as a guide to its main uses; its potential is infinite as it is very much a productive ending and it is not merely restricted to nouns (see 7.5.3). On the whole the connotation of a diminutive form is either neutral or positive, but sometimes it fulfils a derogatory function (see (f) below). (a) The diminutive’s basic function is to make things small: huis ‘house’ > huisje ‘little house, cottage’ kap ‘hood’ > Roodkapje ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ But even when the diminutive merely indicates that something is small, the diminutized noun is commonly preceded by the adjective klein. De sprinkhaan zat onder een klein struikje. The grasshopper was sitting under a little shrub. Hij woont op een heel klein kamertje. He’s living in a teeny weeny room. (b) The diminutive is also used as a form of endearment; first names (and not just of children, but particularly women’s names) are often diminutized: Jantje, Frankje, Marietje, Annetje (c) Sometimes the diminutive form of a noun renders a completely separate lexical item in English: brood loaf of bread broodje bread roll kaart map kaartje ticket koek cake koekje biscuit koop buy koopje bargain lepel spoon lepeltje teaspoon Mongool Mongol mongooltje mongoloid child neef cousin (male) neefje nephew nicht cousin (female) nichtje niece Diminutives 61
7 Nouns 62 scheermes razor scheermesje razor blade schotel dish schoteltje saucer viool violin viooltje violet, pansy The diminutives of broer and zuster are broertje and zusje (not zustertje, which refers to a nurse) respectively; these forms often render ‘younger brother/sister’, but this is not necessarily always the case: Mijn broertje heeft er een. My younger brother has one. The diminutive forms of man and wijf or vrouw are used for male and female with reference to animals: Is het een mannetje of een wijfje/vrouwtje? Is it a male or a female? Het is een wijfjesaap/vrouwtjesaap, geen mannetjesaap. It is a female monkey, not a male monkey. The above forms are used chiefly for animals for which there is no separate word for male and female, i.e. not for paard ‘horse’, for example, where one can use the words hengst ‘stallion’ and merrie ‘mare’, but English is much the same as Dutch in this respect; where English has a separate word for the male and female of a given species, Dutch usually does too. (d) The diminutive is used to itemize some quantitative nouns, i.e. nouns that stand for a collective quantity (particularly varieties of food and drink) which take on the meaning of one item of that substance when they bear the diminutive ending: advocaat advocaat een advocaatje a glass of advocaat bier beer een biertje a glass of beer chocola chocolate een chocolaatje a chocolate drop licorice een dropje a piece of licorice gebak pastry, cakes een gebakje a pastry, petit four hout wood een houtje a bit of wood ijs ice-cream een ijsje an ice-cream kauwgom chewing gum een kauwgommetje a piece of gum krijt chalk een krijtje a piece of chalk
- Page 25 and 26: 2 Spelling 10 August 1996, dictated
- Page 27 and 28: 2 Spelling 12 doet het, hè? ‘You
- Page 29 and 30: 2 Spelling 14 7.2.1.4. In the follo
- Page 31 and 32: 2 Spelling 16 Under the spelling ru
- Page 33 and 34: 2 Spelling 18 2.9 The alphabet The
- Page 35 and 36: 20 Generally speaking Dutch punctua
- Page 37 and 38: 3 Punctuation 22 The following subt
- Page 39 and 40: 4 Cases 24 blootshoofds bare-headed
- Page 41 and 42: 5 Articles 26 (b) It is commonly om
- Page 43 and 44: 5 Articles 28 Hij is de nieuwe Comm
- Page 45 and 46: 5 Articles 30 (d) It is always used
- Page 47 and 48: 32 Chapter 6 Demonstratives Aanwijz
- Page 49 and 50: 34 Chapter 7 Nouns Zelfstandige naa
- Page 51 and 52: 7 Nouns 36 7.1.1.9 Words ending in
- Page 53 and 54: 7 Nouns 38 7.1.2 7.1.2.1 Neuter nou
- Page 55 and 56: 7 Nouns 40 7.1.2.11 Adjectives endi
- Page 57 and 58: 7 Nouns 42 7.1.4 Nouns with two gen
- Page 59 and 60: 7 Nouns 44 formation is always to a
- Page 61 and 62: 7 Nouns 46 7.2.1.6 Foreign (usually
- Page 63 and 64: 7 Nouns Exceptions: nouns of Greek
- Page 65 and 66: 7 Nouns 50 7.2.2.3 There is a small
- Page 67 and 68: 7 Nouns 52 ei egg eieren gelid join
- Page 69 and 70: 7 Nouns The Netherlands Nederland t
- Page 71 and 72: 7 Nouns 56 7.3.6 -ster (a) Nouns de
- Page 73 and 74: 7 Nouns 58 7.5.1.2 -tje (a) Words c
- Page 75: 7 Nouns 60 7.5.1.5 -kje Nouns endin
- Page 79 and 80: 7 Nouns 64 7.5.3.1 Adverbs are the
- Page 81 and 82: 66 Chapter 8 Pronouns Voornaamworde
- Page 83 and 84: 8 Pronouns 68 (b) The unemphatic fo
- Page 85 and 86: 8 Pronouns 70 8.1.2 8.1.2.1 Remarks
- Page 87 and 88: 8 Pronouns 72 distinguish singular
- Page 89 and 90: 8 Pronouns 74 Doe de deur dicht! Ne
- Page 91 and 92: 8 Pronouns 76 Je moet de oostkust b
- Page 93 and 94: 8 Pronouns 78 Ik weet het wel. Ik w
- Page 95 and 96: 8 Pronouns 80 She gave him the book
- Page 97 and 98: 8 Pronouns Masculine antecedents us
- Page 99 and 100: 8 Pronouns 84 8.4 8.4.1 Demonstrati
- Page 101 and 102: 8 Pronouns 86 8.5 8.5.1 Relative pr
- Page 103 and 104: 8 Pronouns 88 In this case the prep
- Page 105 and 106: 8 Pronouns 90 8.5.6 ‘Whose’ 1 2
- Page 107 and 108: 8 Pronouns 92 8.5.8 Independent rel
- Page 109 and 110: 8 Pronouns 94 Alle bomen die in dit
- Page 111 and 112: 8 Pronouns 96 Dit is een ‘must’
- Page 113 and 114: 8 Pronouns 98 sommige(n) some ander
- Page 115 and 116: 8 Pronouns 100 Ik heb ze allebei in
- Page 117 and 118: 8 Pronouns 102 8.6.9 Pronominal use
- Page 119 and 120: 8 Pronouns 104 When waar and its pr
- Page 121 and 122: 106 Chapter 9 Adjectives Bijvoeglij
- Page 123 and 124: 9 Adjectives 108 zaakgelastigde ‘
- Page 125 and 126: 9 Adjectives 110 2.8), Parijs - Par
7<br />
Nouns<br />
62<br />
scheermes razor scheermesje razor blade<br />
schotel dish schoteltje saucer<br />
viool violin viooltje violet, pansy<br />
The diminutives of broer and zuster are broertje and zusje (not<br />
zustertje, which refers to a nurse) respectively; these forms often<br />
render ‘younger brother/sister’, but this is not necessarily always<br />
the case:<br />
Mijn broertje heeft er een.<br />
My younger brother has one.<br />
The diminutive forms of man and wijf or vrouw are used for male<br />
and female with reference to animals:<br />
Is het een mannetje of een wijfje/vrouwtje?<br />
Is it a male or a female?<br />
Het is een wijfjesaap/vrouwtjesaap, geen mannetjesaap.<br />
It is a female monkey, not a male monkey.<br />
The above forms are used chiefly for animals for which there is no<br />
separate word for male and female, i.e. not for paard ‘horse’, for<br />
example, where one can use the words hengst ‘stallion’ and merrie<br />
‘mare’, but English is much the same as Dutch in this respect; where<br />
English has a separate word for the male and female of a given<br />
species, Dutch usually does too.<br />
(d) The diminutive is used to itemize some quantitative nouns, i.e.<br />
nouns that stand for a collective quantity (particularly varieties of<br />
food and drink) which take on the meaning of one item of that<br />
substance when they bear the diminutive ending:<br />
advocaat advocaat een advocaatje a glass of advocaat<br />
bier beer een biertje a glass of beer<br />
chocola chocolate een chocolaatje a chocolate<br />
drop licorice een dropje a piece of licorice<br />
gebak pastry, cakes een gebakje a pastry, petit four<br />
hout wood een houtje a bit of wood<br />
ijs ice-cream een ijsje an ice-cream<br />
kauwgom chewing gum een kauwgommetje a piece of gum<br />
krijt chalk een krijtje a piece of chalk
Change language