Search

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIMINUTIVE DERIVATION MODELS IN THE SERBIAN AND CROATIAN LANGUAGES (BASED ON FEMININE NOUNS) // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2016. Issue 3 (13). P. 33-38

Present study concentrates on the distribution of feminine diminutive nominal suffixes in Serbian and Croatian. Both languages possess a dominant system with one prepotent suffix (-ica), whose combinability is (morphonologically) not restrained. All the constraints on the combinability of the suffix which functioned on the previous stages of language development (and are still in effect in closely related languages) are eliminated. The rival suffix -ka has almost been lost in its diminutive meaning and functions as a hypocoristic suffix. The main distinction of the two systems lies in the operation of the archaic suffix -ca. While Serbian has preserved the suffix in its main function (diminutivization of the former i-stems), Croatian has almost lost it: suffix -ca does not function as a diminutive suffix in Croatian.

Keywords: Serbian language, Croatian language, South Slavonic languages, derivation, diminutivation, morphology