News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Worms frozen in permafrost for up to 42,000 years come back to life. Parent comment

Re:Worms frozen in permafrost for up to 42,000 years come ba... by blensor on Friday July 27, 2018 @10:18AM (#17626128)
Hmm, interesting to try and pinpoint the difference between "lein" and "erl". I would say they are both diminutive but not exactly in the same way.

erl ... would be more related to the actual size

  Sack -> Sackerl (bag -> small bag)
  Wagen -> Wagerl (cart -> small cart)
lein ... would be more related to the inner size (sorry I can't frame this into words any better)

  Frau -> Fräulein (Woman -> Younger/Fragile woman (unmarried))
  Wagen -> Wäglein (Cart -> smaller but also lesser cart)
edit: referring to the answer of pavel_lishin. Yes "qualitative" modifier was the word I am looking for.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Worms frozen in permafrost for up to 42,000 years come ba... by pavel_lishin on Friday July 27, 2018 @10:31AM (#17626226)
"erl" seems to be a purely quantitative diminutive, whereas "lein" seems to be more of a qualitative modifier, I guess?
[ Parent | on HN ]