Diminutive Constructions in English

Book excerpt: Diminutive constructions in English provides an analysis of form and meaning of English diminutives with selected suffixes and suffix combinations: -let, -ling, -ette, -er+ -s, -kin + -s, and -ie+ -kin +-s. The empirical study is done within the framework of Construction Grammar, Construction Morphology as depicted by Geert Booij (2010; 2013), and a Construction-Grammar-based approach to translation proposed by Izabela Szymańska (2011). On the basis of an exhaustive corpus of language material, the author proposes new schemas for English diminutives and related formations. Moreover, the work provides supporting evidence for the distinction of analytic A + N constructions as a valid type of diminutive formation in the English language.