[gothic-l] Re: About diminutive

[llama_nom]

Hi Fredrik,

I think Francisc has already answered most of your questions.  Yes, 
these particular diminutive endings are all weak (-ila, -ilo, or 
after u-stems -ula, *-ulo).  However, on the basis of OE and ON 
cognates, the Gothic word for "a Vandal man" ought to have been 
*WANDALS (?-uls, ?-ils (all these variants seem to have existed 
somewhere in Germanic)), strong, a-stem.

There is no in-stem alternative to -ilo/*-ulo.  The feminine 
equivalent to -ila/-ula is only attested as the on-stem, -ilo.  Not 
exactly like compound words: the vowel is -i-, except after u-stems.

Incidentally, another Gothic diminutive, -ein, is a neuter a-stem 
(strong), regardless of the natural gender, e.g. gumein 'a male', 
qinein 'a female'.  And the Gothic equivalent of the -ing/-ung suffix 
is recorded in the word gadaliggs 'cousin' (=OE 
gaedeling/geaduling 'companion', OS gaduling).  Hence Hob Gadling in 
Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics...

Llama Nom



--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Fredrik" <gadrauhts at h...> wrote:
> Am I right about that the gender is the same in diminutive as the 
> original word?
> Like 'barn' that is neuter becomes barnilo, and 'mawi' that is fem. 
> becomes mawilo.
> 
> Is diminutive always weak? (n-stems)
> 
> If the word is feminine, how do I know if the díminutive becomes on-
 
> or in-stem?
> 
> And at last, the vowel infront of the l, how to know which one it 
> should be? Is it the same rule as in compounded words?
> 
> 
> Ps. Does some one know what the name of the opposite to diminutive 
is?



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