Academic Scientific JournalsDiminutivization as a metaphor engendered phenomenon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/bp.2023.2.03Keywords:
diminutive, conceptualization, imagery metaphorAbstract
The roles of diminutive morphemes in English and in Polish are hardly equivalent. In English, diminutivization of a noun indicates either a relatively small size of a referent and/or a speaker’s emotional attitude towards it (in the hypocoristic function). In Polish, however, besides the two aforementioned roles, a diminutive noun may mark a conception much more complex than just a smaller version of a regular noun’s denotation, possibly very different than that represented by a regular noun. The semantic function of a Polish diminutive morpheme, thus, extends far beyond indicating smallness and amounts to specifying properties that may be absent from referents of regular noun forms. Oftentimes employing such a morpheme is indicative of metaphorical thinking.
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