Learn about diminutives in Hindi
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Intro |
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| Alisha: What are diminutives and how are they formed in Hindi? |
| Shakti: And are they commonly used? |
| Alisha: At HindiPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Madhu Manchanda points out a cute kitten to her daughter, Mallika Manchanda. She says, |
| "Look at the kitten!" |
| मधु: इस किटी को देखो! (iS kitii ko Dekho!) |
| Dialogue |
| मधु: इस किटी को देखो! (iS kitii ko Dekho!) |
| मल्लिका: यह कितनी प्यारी है! (yah kiTaNii pyaarii hai!) |
| Alisha: Once more with the English translation. |
| मधु: इस किटी को देखो! (iS kitii ko Dekho!) |
| Alisha: "Look at the kitten!" |
| मल्लिका: यह कितनी प्यारी है! (yah kiTaNii pyaarii hai!) |
| Alisha: "It's so cute!" |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: Did you notice how Madhu used the term, |
| Shakti: किटी (kitii) |
| Alisha: or "kitty" instead of, |
| Shakti: बिल्ली (biLLii) |
| Alisha: or "cat?" She used a diminutive since she's referring to a young or small cat, and that's what diminutives are—words that have been modified to convey the smallness of the object named. Just like in English, in Hindi, you would use the diminutive "kitty" or "kitten" when referring to a young cat, or "puppy" |
| Shakti: पप्पी (pappii) |
| Alisha: when referring to a small or young dog, which, in Hindi, is, |
| Shakti: कुत्ता (kuTTaa) |
| [Recall 1] |
| Alisha: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. Do you remember how Madhu Manchanda says "Look at the kitten?" |
| (Pause 4 seconds) |
| Shakti as Madhu: इस किटी को देखो! (iS kitii ko Dekho!) |
| Alisha: In Hindi, diminutives or |
| Shakti: लघुता वाचक शब्द (LaghuTaa vaacak sabD) |
| Alisha: are usually made by making changes to the gender-marking vowel at the end of the word. Sometimes, the entire word itself is replaced by another word. In the dialogue, for instance, the diminutive is |
| Shakti: किटी (kitii) |
| Alisha: which means "small cat." In English, a small cat is called a "kitten," which is the diminutive for "cat." In Hindi, however, the word for "cat," is |
| Shakti: बिल्ली (biLLii) |
| Alisha: In this case, the normal rule for creating diminutives is not applied. |
| [Summary] |
| Alisha: In this lesson, we learned that diminutives are words that have been modified to convey the smallness of the object named. We also learned that, in Hindi, diminutives |
| Shakti: लघुता वाचक शब्द (LaghuTaa vaacak sabD) |
| Alisha: are usually made by making changes to the gender-marking vowel at the end of the word. Sometimes, the entire word itself is replaced by another word. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Alisha: This time, let's discuss in detail the common rules in forming diminutives in Hindi. In Hindi, some nouns and adjectives that are either declinable or end in a consonant can be changed into their diminutive forms by replacing the end gender-marking vowel. The vowels, |
| Shakti: आ (aa) and ई (ii), |
| Alisha: for instance, are changed to |
| Shakti: ऊ (uu) |
| Alisha: such as in the case of |
| Shakti: बच्चा (baccaa) |
| Alisha: or "child." To form the diminutive of this word, the end vowel is replaced, resulting in the word |
| Shakti: बच्चू (baccuu) |
| Alisha: which means "young child" or "small child." For some words, particularly inanimate masculine nouns that end in the vowel "aa," changing the final vowel can make it diminutive and also feminine at the same time. The word |
| Shakti: पर्चा (parcaa), |
| Alisha: for instance, which means "form" or "letter," becomes |
| Shakti: पर्ची (parcii) |
| Alisha: which means "chit" or "slip." In some cases, compounding also creates diminutives. For instance, the word "magazine," or |
| Shakti: पत्रिका (paTrikaa), |
| Alisha: becomes |
| Shakti: लघु पत्रिका (Laghu paTrikaa) |
| Alisha: or "small magazine." The same goes with the word |
| Shakti: कथा (kaTHaa) |
| Alisha: or "story," whose diminutive is |
| Shakti: लघु कथा (Laghu kaTHaa) |
| Alisha: or "short story." |
| Cultural Insight |
| Alisha: Like other languages, Hindi also uses diminutives to convey affection. This is commonly observed in proper nouns, particularly children's names, which are usually made diminutive with the use of the vowel, |
| Shakti: ऊ (uu). |
| Alisha: The name "Rajiv," for instance, or |
| Shakti: राजीव (raajiiv) |
| Alisha: can be made diminutive by changing it to |
| Shakti: राजू (raajuu) |
| Alisha: or "Raju." The same goes for the name, |
| Shakti: अंजलि (aNjaLi), |
| Alisha: or "Anjali," which is made diminutive by changing it to |
| Shakti: अंजू (aNjuu) |
| Alisha: Another way that Indians convey affection for children is by adding a diminutive to the word |
| Shakti: बेटा (betaa), |
| Alisha: which means "son" and, by adding |
| Shakti: ऊ (uu), |
| Alisha: it becomes |
| Shakti: बेटू (betuu) |
| Alisha: Similarly, a daughter in Hindi is |
| Shakti: बेटी (betii) |
| Alisha: and this may become |
| Shakti: बिटिया (bitiyaa). |
Outro |
| Alisha: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Shakti: फिर मिलेंगे! (phir miLenge!) |
| Alisha: See you soon! |
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