Hypocoristic

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A hypocoristic, hypocorism, or hypochorisma (from Greek ὑποκορίζεσθαι hypokorizesthai, "to use child-talk"[1]) is a lesser form of the given name used in more intimate situations, as a nickname, term of endearment, a pet name.

Contents

Derivation

Hypocoristics are often generated as:

As evident from the above-mentioned examples, hypocoristics frequently demonstrate (indirectly) a phonological linguistic universal (or tendency) for high-pitched sounds to be used for smaller creatures and objects (here as more "cute" or less imposing names). Higher-pitched sounds are associated with smaller creatures due to the fact that smaller creatures can only make such high frequency sounds given their smaller larynx sizes.

The word "hypocoristic" is used as a noun or adjective in English; some other languages prefer to use the original Greek word "hypocoristicon" as a noun. The noun "hypocoristicon" seems to be rarely used in English.

Hypocoristics in various languages

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English

English also forms nicknames in a variety of manners.

Shortening, generally to the first syllable:

Addition of the diminutive suffix, -ie or -y. It is often added to the end of an already shortened name. This suffix connotes smallness or endearment. Although most often applied to the names of children, it is not uncommon for an adult to be referred to by the diminutive, especially by family, friends and close acquaintances:

A short form that differs significantly from the name:

And combinations and variants of the above:

French

Informal French often produces hypocoristics either by cutting a word in half after the letter O, or by chopping off the end of the word and adding an O: McDo from McDonalds; gynéco from gynécologue; dico from dictionnaire; dodo (childish word for sleep, from dormir, to sleep); écolo from écologiste; Catho from Catholique; psycho from psychologie.

The ending -oche (with or without an intervening consonant or phoneme to make it easier to pronounce) is also sometimes used: cinoche (cinéma), MacDoche (McDonalds), fastoche (easy-peezy, from facile, easy). Words or names may also be shortened or abbreviated without an O: fixs from fixations, 'ski bindings'; Jean-Phi from Jean-Philippe; amphi from amphithéatre (large classroom or lecture hall); ciné (another informal word for cinéma). These words are familiar/informal versions of the underlying words.

The connotation of familiarity (my friend Jean-Phi, as opposed to my new work colleague Jean-Philippe; cinoche, the place I often go for entertainment, as opposed to cinéma, the neutral word for a movie theater) is what makes them hypocoristics.

Polish

In Polish there are multiple affixes used to create the diminutive. Some of them are -ka, -sia, -cia, -unia, -enka, -śka, -lka for feminine nouns and -ek, -uś, -ciek, -czek, -uń, -eńki, -lki for masculine (among others). Here is a list of common names with some of them:

Romanian

Russian

Russian has a wide variety of diminutive forms for names, to the point that for non-Russian speakers it can be difficult to connect a nickname to the original. Diminutive forms for nouns are usually distinguished with an -ik, -ok (-yok) (masculine gender), -chk-/-shk- and -on’k-/-en’k- suffixes. Names can be somewhat more arbitrary, but still follow a loose pattern. A list of common names and their diminutive forms:

Some names can also be modified with a -ka ending to add a further level of familiarity, but are not normally used for adults who are not family members.

Spanish

See also: Spanish naming customs

Spanish forms diminutives by adding one of several diminutive suffixes. -ito/a, -cito/a, -ecito/a, -ico/a, -cico/a -illo/a, -cillo/a, -uelo/a, -zuelo/a, -ete/a, -ín, -iño/a:

It is common for a person to be known by 2 first names: José Luis, María Teresa, Juan Carlos etc. Combining the 2 names into one is another common way to form a hypocoristicon:

Many Spanish nicknames, however, are or can seem very unlike the original name. Notice, however, that the -ch- /tʃ/ sound is very common in many of these diminutives:

Also, several female names may have their endings cut off and the vowel -"i" added at the end in the formation of pet names:

See also

References

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: "hypocorism", accessed 2008-06-24