[*] 243.
Diminutive Adjectives are usually confined to one gender, that of the
primitive, and are used as Diminutive Nouns.
They are formed by means of the suffixes—
-ulus (
-a,
-um),
-olus (after a vowel),
-culus,
-ellus,
-illus
|
rīv-ulus, a
streamlet;
|
rīvus, a
brook.
|
|
gladi-olus, a small
sword;
|
gladius, a
sword.
|
|
fīli-olus, a
little son;
|
fīlius, a
son.
|
|
fīli-ola, a
little daughter;
|
fīlia, a
daughter.
|
|
ātri-olum, a
little hall;
|
ātrium, a
hall.
|
|
homun-culus, a
dwarf;
|
homō, a
man.
|
|
auri-cula, a little
ear;
|
auris, an ear.
|
|
mūnus-culum, a
little gift;
|
mūnus
, N., a gift.
|
|
cōdic-illī,
writing-tablets;
|
cōdex, a
block.
|
|
mis-ellus, rather
wretched;
|
miser, wretched.
|
|
lib-ellus, a little
book;
|
liber, a book.
|
|
aure-olus (-a, -um),
golden;
|
aureus (-a, -um),
golden.
|
|
parv-olus (later
parv-ulus
), very small;
|
parvus (-a, -um),
little.
|
|
mâius-culus,
somewhat larger;
|
mâior (old
mâiōs
), greater.
|
[*] Note 1.--These diminutive
endings are all formed by adding -lus to various stems. The formation is the same as
that of -ulus in § 251. But these words became
settled as diminutives, and retained their connection with
nouns. So in English the diminutives whitish, reddish, are of the same
formation as bookish and snappish, -culus comes from
-lus added to adjectives in
-cus formed from stems in
n- and s-: as, iuven-cus,
Aurun-cus (cf.
Aurunculêius
), prīs-cus, whence the
cu
becomes a part of the termination, and the whole
ending (-culus) is used elsewhere,
but mostly with n- and s- stems, in accordance with its origin.
[*] Note 2.--Diminutives are
often used to express affection, pity, or contempt: as, dēliciolae, little pet;
muliercula, a poor
(weak) woman; Graeculus, a miserable Greek.
[*] a.
-ciō, added to stems in
n-, has the same diminutive force,
but is used with masculines only: as,
homun-ciō,
a dwarf (from
homō,
a
man).
