Pejorative vs. Diminutive

[Bernie Francis]

Oops! Diminutives are everywhere both in nouns and verbs. "Ji'j" is a common one which serves not only as a diminutive but also as a term for endearment. Micmac men would use the English term "dear" when addressing their wives and add "ji'j at the end giving us "dearji'j". She could be a 300 pounder and would still apply telling us that it's not a diminutive for certain.

bern

Sent from my iPad

On 2013-05-07, at 3:55 PM, "Arok Wolvengrey" <awolvengrey at FIRSTNATIONSUNIVERSITY.CA> wrote:

> Greetings.  I'm working on a paper concerning diminutives and pejoratives - and in particular comparing Plains Cree (which lacks a distinct pejorative) and Saulteaux (which has one).  This has me wondering about the distribution of these forms across the Algonquian family.  I'm hoping some of you can comment on the distribution of diminutives versus pejoratives in as many Algonquian languages as possible.  In particular, how widespread are diminutive and pejorative forms?  Is the pejorative restricted just to Ojibwe or do other language have distinct pejoratives?  Thank you for any information you can share.