pet name

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pet names are usually given to people who are closely related to one another (such as lovers , married couples or parents , friends and children ).

A nickname is sometimes derived from a corruption of a regular proper name . Similar to nicknames , the nickname can also be obtained as a transmission of an associated quality. As a rule, the associated property is chosen to be positive. The linguistic term for nicknames is Hypokoristikum (from ancient Greek ὐποκοριστικόν hypokoristikón , German ' Kosewort ' ).

education

reduction

The formation is preferably carried out by the reduction form. Here are several diminutive - suffixes to the actual name together, mostly for similar grammatical rules as nouns. In German, these are mainly the endings -chen and -lein with their subsidiary dialect forms. Examples are Marie-lein or Karl-chen . In German and English , pet names are often formed by adding an -i or -ie to the name or the stem of the name. It is not entirely clear whether this is due to the imitation of a natural sound. In the German-speaking area there are also some diminutive forms from other languages, e.g. B. French Ann-ette to Anne, Hungarian Mari-ka to Maria or Spanish Teres-ita to Teresa .

In addition to numerous diminutive forms, Italian also has its own " belittling " form (vezzeggiativo) with the ending -uccio .

Shortening

Short forms are also common hypocoristics, but have sometimes returned to common full forms themselves, such as Alex to Alexander, Lutz to Ludwig or Lilo to Lieselotte . Examples from other languages ​​are Italian Sandra to Alessandra, Russian Sascha to Aleksandr or English Jenny to Jennifer .

Combination of shrinking and shortening

However, the combination of both derivatives is particularly common, with the underlying name occasionally being barely recognizable.

Examples:

  • german Johannes> Hannes> Hans> Hansel> Hanselchen
  • Italian Giovanna> Gianna> Giannina> Nina> Ninetta
  • Greek Dimitrios> Dimitris> Dimitrakis> Takis

Examples

use

A nickname is used, for example, to distinguish several people with the same name within a group or to express a special closeness to this person. Hypocoristics are often given as a nickname among people who are closely related to one another, such as lovers, married couples or parents and children. Similar to the nickname, the transference of a usually positive associated quality can also be the initial form of nicknames . For these reasons, the use of the pet forms and nicknames is often reserved for relatives and close friends.

However, such pet forms also become independent first names through artists ( artist names) or persons of contemporary history, just as the forms of Alexander led to the first name Alex .

Some pet forms have developed into independent first names over the years. Pet names and nicknames are naturally close and therefore often hardly distinguishable.

Pet names for the life partner

According to a representative study of 5000 participants from 2013, every fourth German has a nickname, with every third being called a "treasure". The animal names "Hase", "Maus", in Austria for men and women "Mausi" and "Bär" occupy places two to four in front of "Engel", "Schnucki", "Süße" and "Liebling". The top 10 close with "Spatz" and "Baby". Ten percent of Germans are even more creative when choosing a nickname and rely on their own creations such as “witch”, “spoon” or “fat boy”. 13 percent forego pet names entirely. Satisfaction with the nickname is largely high, but every 11th respondent would prefer a different nickname.

Regional differences in Germany

Within Germany there are clear differences in the frequency and use of nicknames: In the north, the proportion of people with nicknames is not only higher, other nicknames are also used. While people in the south-west tend to say “mouse”, in the north-east they prefer to call their better half “hare”.

Effects of educational level

Overall, people with lower educational qualifications are more likely to give themselves animal names such as “rabbit”, “bear” and “mouse”. In higher education levels will, however, frequently addressed with the less compromising nickname "treasure".

Different nicknames for the sexes

The expected differences between the sexes can be seen in the general population: women are often called “mice” or “angel”, while men are often called “bears”. This picture is blurred among same-sex couples: Here gays also call themselves “angels” and lesbians “bears”.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: nickname  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Endowment  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Hypocoristics  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pet name study. In: befragmich.de, accessed on March 31, 2020.
  2. ↑ Gunnar Grieger: Pet names 2013 - A representative survey among 5000 Germans. (PDF; 227 kB) Grieger Publications, Hamburg 2013, p. 6.
  3. ↑ Parship study: Germany likes it classic - "Schatz" is the undisputed number 1 among the nicknames. Parship study shows: nine out of ten Germans have a nickname for their partner / 13 percent categorically reject nicknames. In: parship.de, Parship , August 8, 2013, accessed on January 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ Gunnar Grieger: Pet names 2013 - A representative survey among 5000 Germans. (PDF; 227 kB) Grieger Publications, Hamburg 2013, pp. 12-14.
  5. ↑ Gunnar Grieger: Pet names 2013 - A representative survey among 5000 Germans. (PDF; 227 kB) Grieger Publications, Hamburg 2013, p. 17.
  6. ↑ Gunnar Grieger: Pet names 2013 - A representative survey among 5000 Germans. (PDF; 227 kB) Grieger Publications, Hamburg 2013, p. 15 f.