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Help[Facts] dee as German diminutive?
Has anyone ever heard of the "dee" sound added to the second syllable of a name as a German diminutive? A teacher of mine mentioned this, and used a classmate, Ilan, as an example, saying it would become "Lan-dee." He went on to talk about a girl in his family known as Boldee. I didn't catch the full name, but I assume that means it goes for either gender. I'm guessing it would be like "y/ie" in English.
Any fluent German-speakers out there who can confirm or deny this?
I intend to live forever, or die trying! - Groucho Marx
Any fluent German-speakers out there who can confirm or deny this?
I intend to live forever, or die trying! - Groucho Marx
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Replies
The only German nicknames like that that I can think of are things like Poldi (Leopold) and Heidi (Adelheid) - but the ending is the -i, not -di.
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I have never heard of this. However, we have a lot of dialects in Germany, and some are really special. You may find something of the kind there.
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I cannot remember hearing a "dee" sound used like that.
Common diminutives for German names are "-chen" and "-lein". However both border on the ridiculous and are mainly used in jokes or on other special circumstances, much less for forming actual nicknames and such.
So, for example, a Peter might become a Peterchen or a Peterlein. Sometimes you need slight modifications before it works, like inserting a vowel or generating an umlaut:
Franz -> Franzilein
Franz -> Fränzchen
Hans -> Hansilein
Hans -> Hänschen
Common diminutives for German names are "-chen" and "-lein". However both border on the ridiculous and are mainly used in jokes or on other special circumstances, much less for forming actual nicknames and such.
So, for example, a Peter might become a Peterchen or a Peterlein. Sometimes you need slight modifications before it works, like inserting a vowel or generating an umlaut:
Franz -> Franzilein
Franz -> Fränzchen
Hans -> Hansilein
Hans -> Hänschen
1