View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: Is there a diminutive of Diego?
in reply to a message by Lumia
That's true, it depends on the geographical area.
For example Diego is a pretty common name in Italy too (even if it is of spanish origin) and, in italian, you can find diminutives like Dieghino and Dieguccio or augmentatives like Diegone, etc - italian onomastics got a lot of hypocoristic forms.
vote up1vote down

Replies

What would it be if you were in Spain?
vote up1vote down
It depens on the geographical area, againSome 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.
vote up1vote down
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...)
vote up1vote down
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"?
vote up1vote down
[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].
vote up1vote down
Thank you so much!:)
vote up1vote down