Pejorative vs. Diminutive

[Arok Wolvengrey]

Thanks, Bernie:

The Micmac form, "kisiku'sm" for "old dog" used for a man would seem to have a parallel in Plains Cree: kisêyinîwatim "old (man) dog" or "dog of an old man".  Probably only another Elder (most likely his wife ;-) would be able to get away with that.  There's also another insulting term based along these lines: atimwastim "dog of a dog" or "dog of a horse".  Otherwise, forms of atimw-/-astimw- "dog" might frequently be used for insults, but the morpheme hasn't been bleached enough to become an all-purpose pejorative ending ... yet.  I will note, the Saulteaux pejorative form "animohš" has replaced the basic form "anim" as the general reference for "dog", and perhaps this is common to other Ojibwe dialects as well.

Cheers,
Arok