Job Discussion Forums

[Samantha]

Here in Mexico, the wide-spread use of diminutives is extremely popular. The question has arisen as to whether this is the same throughout Latin America and Spain to any degree or is this unique to Mexico? A person I know from the USA likens it to baby talk or a result of inferiority complexes, which I think is harsh and rather off the mark.

The little boy up the street calls out to his grandmother, "abuelita!" A small cat is "una gatita muy chiquita" . My now super-sized, former skinny street cat is the opposite of diminutive, where we would use aggrandizing of size and he would be called "gatote". If you're blocking my driveway I'd rather ask you, "�No puede mover tantito su coche?" than what may first come to mind...it takes the sting out and seems to be used without having to speak paragraphs. Has anyone else noticed this where you are living?

[stillnosheep]

If your friend from USAnia is correct then there are an awful lot of nations in the world whose nationals suffer from the same coｍplex. In Spain widespread use of diminutives is very common, tho' I have no idea if it is as common as i Mexico; in Germany there is fairly widespread use of -chen, -la, -le, or -li (all diminutives) depending on where in Germany the speaker originates and in Japan it is very common to add -chan (an affectionate diminutive) - rather than -san, an honorific) to every name when in certain environments, eg the local izakaya (bar), to indicate that everybody considers everybody else in an affectionate manner and feels no need to stand on formality.

In all these cases the usage indicates that one has a relaxed and affectionate attitude to the person (or animal) in question. Perhaps your USAnian friend should try it!

[lozwich]

Samantha,

Where I'm living in Spain, people don't seem to use diminutives much at all, nor do they use 'mama' and other 'less formal' words. Madre and padre are much more common ways of talking about your parents. I've never heard anyone call their grandmother "abuelita" instead of "abuela", and I actually quite miss a waiter who worked in the town in Mexico where I lived who used to diminutise everything. "Aqui tiene su pancita, su sopita, su carnita y jugito"

Nor have I heard the 'dote' ending for big things, althought the evening movie on tv is often called the 'peliculon', meaning a big hit/popular film. 'lon' or 'on' seems to be added instead of 'dote'.

I have no idea if this is different in different parts of Spain - where I live is very idiosyncratic about lots of things, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were regional variations amongst all the different 'Spains'.

Have a good day,
Lozwich.

[grahamb]

Lozwich is right about the lack of diminutives in Spain. Boring b*gg*rs! There's nothing like a roncito con hielito!

[Samantha]

Do you suppose that it could depend on which area of Spain you are in, whether you hear diminutives being used, or not? Stillnosheep says that it is widespread but Lozwich and grahamb say it is not noticeable. Which areas of the country have you travelled to or been working in?

[lozwich]

I live in the Basque Country, have travelled to Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante, and barely heard an 'ita' in any of those places.

[grahamb]

The only -ita I heard in Madrid was when a South American woman asked me if I had la horita. That was the strangest one I've heard!

[Russell Hadd]

Forget -ito or -ita - it's -ico and -ica in Alcaniz.

[foss]

I'm surprised that people are saying that diminutives are so rare here. OK, it's nothing like Mexican Spanish and you won't hear them used so much in formal situations, but I couldn't live without using them when speaking to Spanish friends.

It's like swearing - when you're starting to learn a language it'll sound ridiculous or forced, but later on it helps you express yourself in so many ways.

[jr1965]

I'm in Madrid, married to a Spaniard and my in-laws (especially mi suegra) use diminutives a lot. Come to think of it, so do my husband and a lot of his friends (male and female). I think it's quite lovely!