The use of the diminutive in English and Arabic

Abstract EN

The present study concentrates on the use of diminutive in English and Arabic.

It states that every language has its devices of forming diminutives and defining them.

It also shows that the use of the diminutives may be attributed to psychological reasons.

The study aims at pointing areas of similarity and difference between English and Arabic.

It also refers to the heavy reliance of English on suffixes when forming diminutives ; that is, it tackles the suffixes that have diminutive force.

It discusses the use of the diminutives in various realms, especially in literary and scientific texts.

Also, the diminutives may be used as a satiric device.

The study shows the difference between "little" and "small" and other adjectives used to denote diminutives.

It also discusses problems such as the repetition of diminutive elements for emphatic purposes and types of smallness such as the implied smallness and the smallness which is left unexpressed.

In fact, it discusses other diminutive problems.

The study also tackles the use of diminutive in Arabic.

It deals with the heavy reliance of Arabic on morphological changes when forming diminutives, the purposes of using diminutives, the forming of diminutives from nouns, certain relative pronouns, certain demonstratives, some triliteral prepositions, the curtailed diminutives, and irregular diminutives.

Also, it refers to the problem of forming diminutives from plurals of paucity and mixed compounds.

It states that diminutives cannot be formed from most verbs, plurals of abundance, predicative and interrogative particles, and so on.

It also states that smallness in Arabic may be implied.

Finally, it tackles the use of diminutives in modern literary Arabic.

The use tackled may be attributed to the influence of English on modern Arabic writers.

Finally, this study comes up with the conclusions which point out the common and divergent aspects as far as the use of the diminutive is concerned in the two languages on the semantic and morphological levels.