What is cuter? A Hase (rabbit) or a Häschen (little rabbit)? A Hund (dog) or a Hündchen (little dog)? A Katze (cat) or a Kätzchen (little cat)? Of course, the correct answers are a Häschen (little rabbit), a Hündchen (little dog), and a Kätzchen (little cat).
These words are examples of what is known as the diminutive (Diminutiv). The diminutive refers to a particularly small instance of the person or thing indicated by the noun, at least in its core meaning. There are several other uses for the diminutive, which we’ll discuss in our next article.
In this article, we’ll look at how the German diminutive is formed.
How to Form the Diminutive
Usually, the German diminutive is formed by adding a suffix to the end of a noun, for example:
- das Pferd → das Pferdchen
(the horse → the little horse) - die Katze → das Kätzlein
(the cat → the little cat) - der Sack → das Sackerl
(the bag → the little bag)
As you can see in the second example, it can happen that vowels are changed to an umlaut (in this case a → ä) and that endings are omitted (in this case the final e is dropped). We’ll look at the mechanics behind these phenomena one by one in a moment.
As the diminutive refers to small living beings and objects, it is almost exclusively derived from nouns. The word bisschen (a little bit) may seem an exception, as it can be used either as a pronoun or an adverb.
Historically speaking, however, it’s the diminutive of the noun der Bissen (the bite). In its original meaning, the word indicated a particularly small amount equal to “a small bite.”
Diminutive of Names
It’s also possible to form the diminutive of some names to either indicate the person’s young age or a close relationship with that person. For example:
- Hans → Hänschen
(Hans → little Hans) - Pauline → Paulinchen
(Pauline → little Pauline) - Marie → Mariechen
(Mary → little Mary)
However, it should be noted that you can’t form the diminutive of any name, but it’s common only with a number of names. For many names, the diminutive would sound strange. Hardly anyone would say Danielchen (little Daniel) or Christophchen (little Christoph).
Adding Suffixes
In written German, the diminutive is usually formed with the suffixes chen and lein, in Austria also with erl. There are several other diminutive endings, but they’re usually used only in dialects and won’t be discussed here.
Some people consider the diminutive with lein old-fasioned. As a result, the suffix chen is common. However, it’s still up to the speaker if he or she uses chen or lein to form the diminutive:
- die Katze → das Kätzchen, or: das Kätzlein
(the cat → the little cat) - der Baum → das Bäumchen, or: das Bäumlein
(the tree → the little tree)
However, if the noun ends with ch, the diminutive is formed almost exclusively with lein for pronunciation reasons:
- der Bach → das Bächlein (not:
das Bächchen)
(the stream → the little stream) - das Buch → das Büchlein (not:
das Büchchen)
(the book → the little book)
Austrian Diminutive with erl
In Austrian German, you can use the suffix erl as an alternative of chen. Here are a few examples:
- der Bauch → das Bäuchlein, or: das Baucherl
(the belly → the little belly) - die Flasche → das Fläschchen, or: das Flascherl
(the bottle → the little bottle) - der Hase → das Häschen, or: das Haserl
(the rabbit → the little rabbit) - der Hund → das Hündchen, or: das Hunderl
(the dog → the little dog) - die Katze → das Kätzchen, or: das Katzerl
(the cat → the little cat)
However, there are some words whose diminutive is formed almost exclusively with erl in Austrian German. Often, these words have a special meaning then. Here are a few examples:
- das Achterl: an eigth of a liter of wine
- das Eichkatzerl: squirrel
- das Gurkerl: pickled cucumber
- das Häferl: mug, cup
- das Hakerl: check mark
- das Kipferl: pastry similar to croissant
- das Krügerl: half a liter of beer
- das Sackerl: shopping bag, usually made of plastic
- das Semmerl: bread roll
- das Wagerl: shopping cart or buggy
- das Weckerl: bread roll
- das Zuckerl: candy
In the case of some diminutives, the original nouns which they derive from are no longer or hardly used nowadays. In our next article, we’ll discuss diminutives that have becomes words on their own in more detail.
Umlaut
As mentioned earlier, sometimes vowels need to be changed to an umlaut when forming the diminutive. The vowels a, o, and u of the root word are usually changed to the umlauts ä, ö, and ü if the diminutive is formed with chen or lein. Here are a few examples:
- der Affe → das Äffchen
(the monkey → the little monkey) - die Stadt → das Städtchen
(the town → the little town) - das Dorf → das Dörfchen
(the village → the little village) - das Brot → das Brötchen
(the bread → the bread roll; literally the little bread) - der Hund → das Hündchen
(the dog → the little dog) - das Buch → das Büchlein
(the book → the little book)
Double vowels may also be changed to umlauts. However, they’re replaced with single rather than a double umlauts. Here are a few examples:
- das Haar → das Härchen
(the hair → the little hair) - der Saal → das Sälchen
(the hall → the little hall) - das Boot → das Bötchen
(the boat → the little boat)
Even if the noun is written with au, the a is replaced with an umlaut:
- der Bauch → das Bäuchlein
(the belly → the little belly) - die Maus → das Mäuschen
(the mouse → the little mouse)
Nouns with ai, on the other hand, will keep the ai:
- der Laib → das Laibchen (not:
das Läibchen)
(the loaf → the little loaf; or: the patty)
However, in Austrian diminutives with erl, the vowel is often remains unchanged and does not become an umlaut. For example, you say das Haserl (the little rabbit) rather than das Häserl.
Dropping Endings
In the examples Kätzchen (little cat), Häschen (little rabbit), Äffchen (little monkey), and Pauline (little Pauline), we’ve already seen that the ending of the original noun might be omitted when forming the diminutive. This is usually the case when the noun ends with an unstressed e or en. Here are a few examples:
- die Rose → das Röschen
(the rose → the little rose) - die Katze → das Kätzchen
(the cat → the little cat) - der Hase → das Häschen
(the rabbit → the little rabbit) - der Garten → das Gärtchen
(the garden → the little garden) - der Haken → das Häkchen
(the hook → the little hook; or: the check mark) - der Haufen → das Häufchen
(the heap → the little heap)
If the diminutive is formed with lein or erl, the ending el of the original noun is dropped as well. On the other hand, if the diminutive is formed with chen, the ending el is retained:
- der Esel → das Eslein, das Eserl, but: das Eselchen
(the donkey → the little donkey) - der Vogel → das Vöglein, das Vogerl, but: das Vögelchen
(the bird → the little bird) - der Spiegel → das Spieglein, das Spiegerl, but: das Spiegelchen
(the mirror → the little mirror) - die Semmel → das Semmlein, das Semmerl, but: das Semmelchen
(the bread roll → the little bread roll) - der Löffel → das Löfflein, das Löfferl, but: das Löffelchen
(the spoon → the little spoon)
Gender of Diminutives
The gender of the diminutive is always neuter, meaning its article is always das. The gender of the original noun which the diminutive derives from is not relevant for this.
- der Hund → das Hündchen (not:
der Hündchen)
(the dog → the little dog) - die Katze → das Kätzchen (not:
die Kätzchen)
(the cat → the little cat) - der Bach → das Bächlein (not:
der Bächlein)
(the stream → the little stream) - der Sack → das Sackerl (not:
der Sackerl)
(the bag → the little bag)
This also explains why it is das Mädchen (the girl): The word developed from das Mägdchen (the little maid), which is the diminutive of die Magd (the maid). Even though the meaning of the word has shifted, the article das has remained. The fact that das Mädchen refers to a female person is irrelevant.
Plural of Diminutives
The plural and singular forms of diminutives are identical. As a result, the plural can only be recognized by the article die, the absence of the indefinite article ein, a verb in the plural, or the ending of the ending of an associated adjective. Here are a few examples:
- Singular: das Mädchen (the girl)
- Plural: die Mädchen (the girls)
As the word Mädchen is neuter, the article die can only refer to the plural.
- Singular: Ich sehe ein Mädchen. (I see a girl.)
- Plural: Ich sehe Mädchen. (I see girls.)
As Mädchen is a so-called countable noun, you always need an article for the singular. If you’re not talking about a specific girl, you use the indefinite article ein (a). If the word doesn’t have an article, it must be plural.
- Singular: Mädchen, komm! (Girl, come!)
- Plural: Mädchen, kommt! (Girls, come!)
The verb form komm in the first sentence is the singular imperative of kommen, so only one girl is told to come. In the second sentence, on the other hand, kommt is the plural imperative, so several girls are being asked to come.
- Singular: schönes Mädchen (pretty girl)
- Plural: schöne Mädchen (pretty girls)
The neuter adjective ending for the nominative and accusative is always es (e.g. schönes). The plural ending, on the other hand, is e (e.g. schöne), as long as there’s no plural article die (the) or indefinite pronoun keine (no) before.
Summary
In this article, we learned how to form the diminutive of German nouns. Apart from the suffixes chen and lein, in Austrian German you can also find erl. There are numerous other endings in dialects.
The vowel of the original noun often gets replaced by an umlaut in the diminutive. Unstressed endings, such as e and en, may also be dropped when forming the diminutive.
The grammatical gender of the diminutive form is always neuter; in other words, the definite article of the diminutive is always das. The plural form of the diminutive is identical to its singular form. As a result, they can only be distinguished through other features, such as the plural article die.
In this article, we covered only the formation of the diminutive. In our next article, we’ll discuss its usage. Although the diminutive in its basic meaning refers to the small size, it usually expresses much more.
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