Chapter 38Diminutive and Affective Noun Formation

38.1 Diminutive and affective -po

The suffix -po forms nouns associated with smallness, youth, or affection. Nakagawa gives cikap-po “small bird,” cep-po “small fish,” and supuya-po “faint smoke” Nakagawa (2024: 268). Satō and Refsing also describe diminutive -po Satō (2008: 266); Refsing (1986: 159). The suffix's contribution ranges beyond physical size, especially in terms for people and in expressions of affection.

38.2 Suffixation and noun compounding

Nakagawa distinguishes diminutive formations from ordinary noun–noun compounds. In a compound such as okkayo-po “son,” okkayo “man” qualifies the following noun po “child.” In cikap-po, the suffix qualifies the preceding noun Nakagawa (2024: 267–268). This difference in semantic organization motivates his classification.

Refsing includes -po among suffixes that extend a nominal while preserving its category and syntactic function. Her Shizunai description gives menoko → menokopo “woman → young woman” and cep → ceppo “fish → small fish” Refsing (1986: 159, §14.2).

38.3 Smallness, youth, and affection

The conventional meaning of a derivative depends on its base. Ceppo describes a small fish, while menokopo describes a young woman. Nakagawa's supuyapo extends the diminutive sense to the slightness of smoke Refsing (1986: 159); Nakagawa (2024: 268).

Kindaichi and Chiri describe both diminutive and affectionate uses. Their example ku-sampe-po, translated as “my dear one,” illustrates affective reference to a person Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 25, note 2). Kinship forms have further lexical restrictions: Nakagawa notes that yupo and sapo do not normally take the expanded forms yupoho and sapoho Nakagawa (2024: 222). Their use is described in Chapter 48 (Kinship, Address, and Possession).

38.4 A diminutive inside a noun phrase

Kawakami Matsuko's Saru narrative describes fish spread out for smoking. The phrase contains both the modifier pon “small” and the diminutive ceppo, followed by plural utar.

The diminutive form can thus be further modified and occur in a plural expression. The uses of utar are described in Chapter 41 (Nominal Number and Utar).

38.5 Lexicalized formations

Tamura's Saru dictionary analyzes isepo “rabbit, hare” as i-se-po: an imitated cry, se “say,” and the diminutive Tamura (1996: s.v. isepo). This is the dictionary's morphological analysis of the lexical animal name. It does not assign an additional small-size meaning to every occurrence of the word.

38.6 Okkaypo and okkayopo

Saru and Chitose distinguish okkay-po “young man” from okkayo-po “son.” Nakagawa analyzes the former with the diminutive suffix and the latter with the noun po “child.” The shortened base okkay is not an independent noun in those dialects Nakagawa (2024: 268). Tamura's Saru entries give the same distinction Tamura (1996: s.vv. okkaypo, okkayopo).

Elsewhere, independent okkay occurs, and okkaypo can mean either “young man” or “son.” Nakagawa notes that the intended interpretation can be ambiguous Nakagawa (2024: 268). The suffix and noun therefore cannot be distinguished from the final syllable alone.

38.7 A historical Horobetsu use

Kindaichi and Chiri report a deceased-relative meaning when -po follows an intimate kin term in colloquial Horobetsu. Their examples include ku-aki-po “my deceased younger brother” and ku-kor oper-po “my deceased daughter.” They distinguish these from the epic form ak-po Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 25, note 2). The meanings are tied to the stated dialect and register.

The same authors derive the suffix from po “child,” an origin also given by Refsing. Nakagawa presents the historical connection as probable Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 25, note 2); Refsing (1986: 159); Nakagawa (2024: 268) ‹speculative›.

38.8 Size expressed by a modifier

Size can also be expressed by preceding pon “small” or poro “large.” These have the grammatical behavior of property verbs; their attributive uses are described in Chapter 37 (Property Predicates and the Adjective Analysis) Nakagawa (2024: 118–120). The example above shows that pon can occur with a noun already containing -po.