LL-L "Morphology" 2007.11.11 (07) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  11 November 2007 - Volume 07
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Diederik Masure <didimasure at hotmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Morphology" 2007.11.11 (06) [E]

Hey Ron,
A good friend of mine tends/used to call me Dids/Didz but she spends a lot
of time on (English speaking) messageboards and mixes a lot of English slang
in her Dutch. Apart from her (and her sister?) I can't recall having found
the suffix in this meaning in Dutch though.

And of course my nickname fits the morphological conditions you put up for
this -s very well. With other monosyll. (Dutch) names it would sound quite
strange though: Jans?? (here usually affectionated jakke), berts?? etc are
not possible.
But as with Jakke, it is quite common in Dutch though to use diminutive
suffixes with names, and it's possible with nearly every name. So my guess
is that this -s has the same behaviour as diminutive names in Dutch (which
don't need to have a diminutive/affective connotation). (no meaning of
cutesy altså)

And my latvian friends call me Dîdriks as well;) but that's just a
nominative -s

Browsing further in your list I recognise the name Babs < Barbara, I know a
girl called Babs but nobody sees it as a form for Barbara here anymore,
while f.ex. Jakke still bears the connection to people called Jan.
And paps and mams occur in Dutch as well, but sound quite 'children
language' + northern dutch to me (and they sound horrible as well!)

Apart from these I can't come up with any examples at this late time of the
night...

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Morphology

Thanks a lot, Diederik.

(I would have expected *Dieds.)

Interesting, this Northern Dutch *paps *and *mams*, though!

Note also British English "mumsy" for one's mothers. So there's that *-s*again.

And here's another one. What shall we call it? "Derisive affection marker"?

It uses the English suffix (combination) *-ster* once to derive a noun for
the habitual performer of an action; e.g., "webster," "songster," "gangster"
and "spinster," but also "youngster."

As a "derisive affection marker" it must be accompanied by the definite
article or a possessive. It doesn't seem to sound right in a large number of
cases, much depending on the name's sound.

The following examples could be talking about a third person or addressing
the person him- or herself.

   - "And who didn't turn off the coffee maker again? Could it be ... the
   Philster?"
   - "Isn't that typical of our Babster?"
   - "So and what's the Chuckster planning for the weekend?"
   - "Late?! Surely not the Suester!"

[By the way, this suffix, with the traditional, serious usage, exists in
Dutch as well, usually forming the feminine counterpart of masculine *-er*;
e.g., *schrijver* - *schrijster *'writer'. In Middle Saxon and North Frisian
it does not necessarily express the feminine; e.g. MS
*bedrygster*'deceiver', NF
*grewster* 'grave-digger', *wäwster *'weaver'.]

As many of you know, since he became governor of California Arnold
Schwarzenegger has been nicknamed "The Governator" (because of his role in
the movie "The Terminator" [which I like to refer to as "The
Exterminator"]). Twice now I have heard Californians call him "The
Terminatester."

These days some people use German-derived *-Meister* instead; e.g.,

   - "If it isn't the Mark-Meister (~ Markster)!"
   - "So have you mentioned it to the Tim-Meister (~ Timster) yet?"

And then there's the suffix *-o* that can be used with certain one-syllable
men's names (abbreviated or not); e.g., Jacko, Ronno, Phillo, Peto, Chucko,
Johnno, Jimbo (note the "b"). I have come across this one especially in
Britain and Australia and have a feeling it's pretty old.

More to think about.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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