Re:Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more
by nrclark on Monday February 10, 2025 @03:37PM
(#43004837)
> I didn’t know English had a diminutive suffix (-kin). Is it used still in common English?
No, at least not in the US. In American English, you'd use a modifier instead of a suffix. We have some pre-diminutized words like "oopsie", but no general-purpose suffix that you can attach to anything.
There are some _prefixes_ that you can use though. You could prepend just about anything with "micro", and people will know you mean "a small version of X".
> Also, is there an augmentative suffix as well that I don’t know about?
Also no (at least not that I can think of). Modifiers are also more common. You can also use prefixes like "Mega" as an augmentative. Depending on the word, this can be used for comic effect.
No, at least not in the US. In American English, you'd use a modifier instead of a suffix. We have some pre-diminutized words like "oopsie", but no general-purpose suffix that you can attach to anything.
There are some _prefixes_ that you can use though. You could prepend just about anything with "micro", and people will know you mean "a small version of X".
> Also, is there an augmentative suffix as well that I don’t know about?
Also no (at least not that I can think of). Modifiers are also more common. You can also use prefixes like "Mega" as an augmentative. Depending on the word, this can be used for comic effect.