Re: Are there real names...
by Anneza (guest)
7/26/2002, 4:34 AM
In Afrikaans the standard diminutive ending is -tjie, pronounced more or less like: key. Depending on what precedes it, you sometimes get just a -jie (hond > hondjie) or -ie (oom > omie) or -pie after a nasal (oom > oompie).
Names-wise, yes, it happens. A woman named Marie (MAH-rie), for instance, can go through life answering to: Marietjie (mah-REE-kee). And Dorothea could be Theatjie (TEE-a-key) or Doortjie (DOO-er-key). Male names tend I think to get the -ie ending: Jan > Jannie, Koos > Kosie, Frik > Frikkie.