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    -DIM (diminutive)
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    The set of Frisian first names can easily be extended by adding one of the allomorphs of the diminutive suffix -DIM. In this way, a man's name may turn into a woman's name. From Jelle, for example, we then get Jeltsje, and from Bouke one can form Boukje. Diminuation can remain in the same gender as well. Thus Poppe is a man, and Popke is a man's name, too. Stacking is also frequent, for instance in Popkje, the female variant of Popke, with a stacking of the suffixes -ke and -je.

    The field of personal names displays some special diminutive forms, some of them pretty old: -se (Ealse), -te (Jelte), -ele (Oebele) and -tse(n) (Doutsen). Especially in the fifties and sixties one saw the rise of -y, for example in Appy (from the name Albert).

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    Although there are also some substantial differences, diminuation in personal names has a lot in common with diminutive formation in ordinary words, count nouns being the core. For that reason, a more in depth treatment is offered in the common topic on diminuation, and in the section on personal name as base in particular.

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      About this article
      Author(s): Siebren Dyk, Truus de Vries
      Category: Frisian Morphology
      Keywords: suffixdiminutivepersonal namenoun
      Version: ,
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