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A hypocorism (; from Greek ', "to use child-talk"〔Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: "hypocorism". Retrieved 24 June 2008.〕), also known as a pet name or calling name,〔calling name〕 is a shorter or diminutive form of a word or given name, for example, when used in more intimate situations as a nickname or term of endearment. However, shortening of names is certainly not exclusive to terms of affection; indeed, in many cases, a shortened name can also be used to intimidate or humiliate. The ambiguity would need to be clarified by context. ==Derivation== Hypocorisms are often generated as: * a reduction (in English) of a longer word to a single syllable, then adding ''-y'' or ''-ie'' to the end, such as ''movie'' ("moving picture"), ''telly'' ("television") or ''Aussie'' ("Australian"). * a contracted form of a personal name, such as ''Tony '' from ''Anthony'', ''Rosy'' for ''Rosemarie'' or ''Vicky'' from ''Victoria''. * a ''baby-talk'' form approximating the name's pronunciation, such as ''Bess'' for ''Elizabeth''. * a personal name with a diminutive suffix; in some languages diminutive forms of names are used primarily when referring to children, and the meaning can oscillate between tenderness and condescension when used for an adult. * * ''-(c)ito/-(c)ita'' or ''-(c)ín/-(c)ina'' in Spanish, such as ''Juanita'' from ''Juana''. Extra consonants may be interposed as in ''Carmelina'' and ''Carmencita'' from Carmen, or merged, as in ''Carmina''. * * ''-chen'', ''-lein'', ''-(l)i'', ''-(e)le'' (usually used with names) in German, such as ''Hündchen'' or ''Hündlein'' (from ''Hund'', meaning "dog") or ''Kalli'' (from ''Karl'', a name) or ''Häusle'' or ''Häusele'' (from ''Haus'', meaning "house"); a back vowel in the root is normally subjected to umlaut, i.e. shift from ''u, o, a'' to ''ü, ö, ä'' respectively (e.g. ''Hund → Hündchen, Arm → Ärmchen, Holz → Hölzchen''). * * a similar form, ''-etto/-etta'', in Interlingua. * * the usual hypocoristic endings in Dutch are in both words and personal names alike: ''-tje'', ''-ke''. When the name ends in a ''t'' or a ''d'' the ending is then a ''-je'' (e.g. Bert → Bertje). If the final consonant of a name is ''m'', the ending is then ''-pje'' (e.g. ''Bram → Brampje''), ''-metje'' (''Bram → Brammetje'') or ''-mie'' (''Bram → Brammie''). For the other consonants the hypocoristic form is ''-tje''. In the southern parts of the Netherlands the hypocoristic form is often ''-ke'' (e.g. ''Peer → Peerke''). Also in Frisian the usual hypocoristic ending is ''-ke'' (e.g. ''Ype → Ypke''). But this form, and others like ''-ske'' and ''-tsje'', often makes the name feminine (e.g. ''Jetse → Jetske'') as they do in Dutch (e.g. ''Jan → Jantje, Hans → Hansje''). There is another productive hypocoristic ending: in the eastern part of the Netherlands (mostly in the province Drenthe), the female form is ''-chien'' Examples are ''Anne → Annechien, Lammert→ Lammechien''. * * a parallel construction in Portuguese, with ''-(z)inho/-(z)inha'', as in ''Aninha'' from ''Ana'' and ''Joãozinho'' from ''João''. * * same in Italian and Italian regional languages, with ''-ino/-ina'' and ''-etto/-etta'' as in ''Paolino/Paoletto'' and ''Paolina/Paoletta'' from ''Paolo'' and ''Paola''. There are also ''-ello/-ella'', as in Donatello/Donatella from ''Donato'' and ''Donata'', -uccio/-uccia, as in Guiduccio from ''Guido'' and ''-etto/-etta'', as in ''Giulietta'' from ''Giulia''. The forms ''-uzzo/-uzza'', as in ''Santuzza'' from ''Santa'', are typical of Sicilian. * * ''-ĉj-'' and ''-nj-'' affixes (for males and females respectively) in Esperanto; these replace the last consonant (or consonant cluster) of the root, thus ''patro → paĉjo'' (father), ''patrino → panjo'' (mother). * * ''-chan'', ''-tan'', or ''-pi'' in Japanese, such as ''Kana-chan'' from ''Kana'' and ''Aki-chan'' from ''Akihiro''. Gemination (doubling) of the consonant or lengthening of the vowel before the ''-chan'' to provide two moras is common, such as ''Settchan'' from ''Setsuko'' and ''Hii-chan'' from ''Hiroki''. * reduplication in various languages, such as ''John-John'' or ''Didi''. * in Cantonese and related dialects, the addition of a word-final very high tone, or ''changed tone'' sometimes in combination with the addition of the prefix ''A'' before the name. The ''A'' syllable is also used in other dialects originating in southern China as a term of endearment or closeness. * ''-ulus''/''-ula'' in Latin, most famously in the case of the Roman emperor Caligula, whose nickname means "little boot". He received the name from soldiers in reference to the small army sandals (''caligae'', singular ''caliga'') he wore when he was young. Likewise the name ''Ursula'' is derived from ''ursa'' (bear) and means "little she-bear". * ''-eleh/-leh'' in Yiddish. An example is ''Leah → Leahleh''. * a combination of multiple methods from those described above. For example, in Romanian, ''Ileana'' becomes ''Ilenuța'' by addition of a diminutive suffix, and ''Ilenuța'' becomes ''Nuți'' by contraction. * In the Anglo-Saxon language, hypocoristic forms were made by truncating the name and adding '-a' (genitive '-an'); if that '-a' is preceded by a short vowel and then one consonant, that one consonant was doubled; sometimes assimilation happened, e.g. ''Cēomma'' for ''Cēolmǣr''. These hypocoristic names are often the first component of a placename, for example Badby, which is recorded in 944 as ''Baddanbyrig'' (dative case) = (at/to) "Badda's fort". As evident from the above-mentioned examples, hypocorisms frequently demonstrate (indirectly) a phonological linguistic universal (or tendency) for high-pitched sounds to be used for smaller creatures and objects (here as more "cute" or less imposing names). Higher-pitched sounds are associated with smaller creatures because smaller creatures can only make such high frequency sounds given their smaller larynxes. The word "hypocorism" is the noun form in English; "hypocoristic" is the adjective form. Some other languages prefer to use the original Greek word "hypocoristicon" as a noun. The noun "hypocoristicon" seems to be rarely used in English. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hypocorism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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