-tje

t. je Dutch Alternative forms nl -chie dialectal Etymology nl -tjen<ety:inh<dum:-kijn<ety:inh<odt:<alt:-kīn><ety:inh<gmw-pro:*-ukīn>>>>>> From earlier nl -tjen, from nl dum -kijn, from nl odt -kīn, which is the ancestor of the suffixes nl -ke, nl -ken, nl -tje (and its subvarieties: nl -je, nl -etje, nl -pje, nl -kje) and af -tjie ([ci]). All forms descend from the nl gmw-pro *-ikīn, gmw-pro *-ukīn, itself a double diminutive produced by combining nl gmw-pro *-ik, gmw-pro *-uk + gmw-pro *-īn. The change from k to tj is the result of a palatalization of -kijn in North Holland in the 13th or 14th century.A. van Loey, "Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands", Zutphen, 8. druk, 1970, 90-03-21170-1; § 186 Cf. also German de -chen, English en -kin. Pronunciation nl /tjə/ [t͡ɕə] [cə] [çə]Beverley Collins Inger M. Mees The Phonetics of English and Dutch 2003 9004103406 5th Brill Publishers 193 nl Nl--tje.ogg Suffix nl diminutive suffixes forms diminutives of nouns (or occasionally other part of speech) Usage notes The use of this suffix is very productive in Dutch and has led to the creation of quite a few lexicalized forms, i.e. the diminutive has acquired a meaning of its own. Sometimes attached to given names, yielding two possible outcomes: A hypocoristic given name of the same gender, such as nl Brammetje (from nl Bram), nl Jantje (from nl Jan) or nl Marietje (from nl Marie). A feminine name derived from a masculine name. Examples include nl Guusje, nl Geertje, both feminine names, deriving from the masculine names nl Guus and nl Geert respectively. Informally, this suffix may be attached to adjectives to yield a noun that is not necessarily diminutive, but has derogatory and/or familiar connotations: e.g.s nl slimpie smart person from nl slim smart, nl gekkie crazy person, oddball from nl gek crazy, nl bijdehandje smart alec from nl bijdehand smart, pedantic and nl jonkie young 'un from nl jong young. When added to derogatory nouns, it often imparts a stronger dismissive charge: e.g. sukkeltje, luxepaardje, mongooltje, trutje. The suffix takes different variant forms according to the stress and final consonant or vowel of the root it is added to. This is mostly due to assimilation of the suffix to the previous consonant. Note that in each case, the actual sound that the word has matters, not the letter(s). Loanwords that retain a silent -e therefore behave as though they ended with the letter before it. -je is added to words ending in: A fricative or plosive (-b, -c, -d, -f, -g, -ch, -k, -p, -q, -s, -sj, -t, -v, -x, -z) Examples: briefje, hokje, visje, doucheje (final sound is -sj), raceje (final sound is -s) -etje is added to words ending in: A stressed short vowel followed by a sonorant (-l, -m, -n, -ng, -r). Examples: pilletje, lammetje, bloemetje (also bloempje as the vowel was originally long), mannetje, vriendinnetje, dingetje, torretje nl how does e.g. bruggetje fit in here? -tje is added to words ending in either: A stressed long vowel or diphthong or any unstressed vowel (-a, -e, -i, -o, -u, -y), or: the above, followed by a sonorant except m or ng (-l, -n, -r). Examples: vrouwtje, autootje, kuiltje, appeltje, maantje -pje is added to words ending in: A stressed long vowel or diphthong or any unstressed vowel followed by m Examples: boompje, duimpje, bloempje (also bloemetje as the vowel has since become short), bodempje -kje is added to words ending in: A stressed long vowel or diphthong or any unstressed vowel followed by ng The -g is removed, so that the resulting word ends in -nkje. Examples: koninkje, houdinkje In informal speech, -ie, -pie and -kie may be used instead of -je, -pje and -kje. This substitution is mandatory in a number of words, particularly in diminutives derived from an adjectival base (such as nl gekkie, nl jonkie, and so forth), but also became the standard diminutive in Afrikaans, a daughter language of Dutch. Derived terms nl -tjes Dutch diminutive nouns Related terms nl -ke nl -ken Descendants af -tjie References