Message: "It depens on the geographical area, again"

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[Facts] It depens on the geographical area, again

by Lumia

7/8/2008, 1:24 AM

Some areas of Spain use preferently the diminutive suffix -ete (Dieguete), other areas use -ín (Dieguín)... The more general and usual suffix is -ito (Dieguito).

But keep in mind that in Spain the use of diminutives is not usual (and people neither are very fond of nicknames) and restricted to children; it is very infrequent to find an adult who goes by a diminutive (with some exceptions that can be more usual: Pepita, Lolita...). This is a huge difference between uses in Spain and in Spanish America.

Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com

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- Rene +3

7/8/2008, 11:59 AM

A little off-topic perhaps, but nevertheless: In the Philippines, where they also use a lot of Spanish given names, they don't seem to have problems with such diminutives. For example, with Google I could find several persons mentioned with the name 'Juanito' seemingly as their normal given name. (A 'Dieguito' was nowhere to be found, however...)

- Lea M (lcgirl20) +2

7/8/2008, 2:40 PM

So how do you pronounce "Dieguito"?

I have trouble with "gu". Is it pronounced like a G, or like in "agua", or like in "Guatemala"?

- Lumia +1

7/8/2008, 3:36 PM

[dje'gito]:

GU in front an E (guerra) or an I (guitarra) sounds just like G+A (gato), G+O (gota) or G+U (gusano).

GÜ+E (desagüe) or GÜ+I (agüita) sound like GUA (agua).

G+E (general) or G+I (gimnasia) sound like J+A (jabón), J+O (joven) or J+U (julio).

Agua and Guatemala have exactly the same sound [gwa].

- Lea M (lcgirl20)

7/9/2008, 5:46 AM

Thank you so much!

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