Title: On the Origin of the English Diminutive Suffix -Y, -Ie
Abstract: One of etymological mysteries of contemporary English historical linguistics is origin of diminutive suffix -y, -ie, first appeared during Middle English Period. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, morpheme derives from English renderings of Old French names like Davi, Mathe (i.e., Davy, Mathy), which have appearance of being pet forms of David, Mathou (OED, s.v. -y suffix (6)). However, as Marchand (1968: 298) objects, 'For whom?' we naturally ask. When there was no suffix and accordingly no possibility of hypocoristic interpretation of final -y, termination was hardly capable of being transferred to other names. In his impressive study of early use and evolution of affix, Sunden (1910) hypothesizes that -y, -ie had its origin in personal names in Scots but did not at first have hypocoristic value -- it was simply general onomastic suffix tending to increase its sphere of application according as weak final -e [with hypocoristic value] was and as it then assumed hypocoristic value of dropped -e, e.g., QE Wulfsige > Wolsi (Sunden 1910: 162-163). But, once more, Marchand (1968: 298) points out: argument we have raised against explanations of QED comes up again. It is difficult to conceive of extension from were not analyzable as two-morpheme words. Reinterpretation usually presupposes bi-morphemic character of a pattern. Jespersen (1922: 402, cf. 1933a: 294-299) ascribes origin of-y, -ie to fact that the [i], especially in its narrow or thin variety, is particularly appropriate to express what is small, weak, insignificant, or, on other hand, refined or dainty as a result of its inherent symbolism. He implies that this vowel symbolism may be related to tendency of children to add an -i at end of words and of traits like these [being] imitated by nurses and fond mothers ... [A]s this linguistic trick is thus associated with children and nurseries, it will naturally acquire a hypocoristic or diminutive force (1933a: 297-298). This same position is espoused by Marchand (1968: 298), although he does acknowledge difficulty in answering question why symbolic value of i came to life so late (not before 1400). In this brief paper, I wish to provide still another theory about origin of this perplexing morpheme -- a theory based on recent research into panchronic laws of linguistic and universals involving child language acquisition. Of course, a panchronic law constitutes a principle regarding the overall direction of linguistic change (Fox 1995: 194). In a recent impressive study of such directionality of linguistic change, Jurafsky (1996) provides compelling linguistic and cognitive evidence about evolution of diminutive affixes. Specifically, he maintains that the origin of morphological diminutive is sense 'child', that is, the source was either semantically related to 'child' (e.g., a word meaning 'child' or 'son'), or pragmatically related to 'child' (e.g., a hypocoristic suffix on names) (1996: 562). He also demonstrates that diminutive from 'child' lies at heart of many pragmatic uses of diminutive suffixes, including hypocorism, patronymics, names of tribes, countries, and languages, various kinds of nominalizations and assorted metaphorical formations [e.g., contempt or affection], of approximation, and often as a general method of producing new adjectives or nouns (1996: 565). In addition to Jurafsky's typological findings, I believe that contemporary descriptions of nature of also provide insight into etymology of -y, -ie. Caretaker speech represents distinct speech register by means of caretakers systematically modify child's environment, making task of language acquisition easier (Moskowitz 1981: 50). It is well known that caretaker speech seem[s] to mimic phonological structure of an infant's own vocabulary (Moskowitz 1981: 51, cf. …
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 3
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot