A Descriptive Analysis of Basque Hypocoristics

Abstract

In this article we explain the patterns that are and were used for hypocoristization in Basque, in addition to providing a definition of the term «hypocoristic» and mentioning some terminology problems on the matter. This article has been written from an onomastics point of view, but the works by some phonologists who have written about pet names are also taken into account. We similarly deal with hypocoristics from other languages, especially those from Spanish, insofar as they can help us understand Basque hypocoristics. The mentioned patterns used by Basque are essentially three: palatalization, suffixation and name shortening. Nevertheless, a combination of two of the previous patterns is also possible, although shortened names that contain suffixes are infrequent. Finally, before going on to our conclusions, we deal with what we have chosen to call «augmentative hypocoristics», which are common to a specific area of the Basque Country.

Keywords

• hypocoristic
• Basque (language)
• onomastics
• palatalization
• suffixes
• name shortening