Many languages have built-in morphology to express the idea that a particular thing is small, or has a slighter degree than the root meaning. Often these forms convey 'cuteness', goodness or a warm attitude towards the thing in question.This is the idea of the diminutive. There are also augmentative forms that convey the opposite, the idea of grandness. In addition, in the realm of personal names, there are 'hypocorisms', or shortened forms of names, which share some overlap with these forms. Common lacks distinct morphology in this area, but can convey the concepts. In this article, we will review the structures Common uses in this area.

As noted, Common lacks affixes like the English -ie or -y, the Spanish -ito or -ita, etc. to convery the concept of a diminutive or augmentative. As well, it lacks any clear, single way to shorten names. Diminutives and augmentatives are handled through modifiers, and hypocorisms through a host of strategies, often borrowed and often with regional variation, with very little structure or order.

Diminutives

Diminutives in Common are handled by using a modifier that means 'small', the most common choices are the native modifier 'sinku', and the borrowed modifier 'mini'. The former is more common to convey the sense of literally small, and the latter has more of a cute sensibility. Example:

Na sinku pikki.
The kitty.

Essentially the same sense could be obtained by saying 'na mini pikki'.

Either of these forms could convey the idea of 'kitten'. To get the sense that something is young and not merely small, a common idiom is to use the word 'pepe', 'baby' as the head term. This form is somewhat colloquial-sounding, but in practice suitable for all but the most formal texts. That would be expressed as:

Na pikki pepe.
The kitten

In very slangy Common, you actually can turn a shortened form of 'pepe' into the suffix -pe, which acts more more an honest-to-God diminutive and can be used on any word, not just words for actual kinds of baby. This form comes from Low Common, but has spread essentially world-wide. However, it is always perceived as casual or lower-class. Example:

Na pikkipe.
The kitten

This form is colloquial.

Augmentatives

Augmentatives in Common are typically formed using the modifier 'akpe', 'big' for the sense of size, or 'pawt', 'many', for the sense of a large number. Both of these modifiers get extended metaphorically quite a lot beyond things that are literally big or numerous.

Unlike diminutive forms, which have a 'cute' or 'good' sense, augmentatives don't carry as much baggage, but they do convey a sense of importance to their object. For example:

Na akpe jen.
The big boss.

This form conveys the idea that the person referred to is the boss of all the bosses, not that the boss is fat, or a literal large head, which is the literal meaning of the statement. The idea of 'big head' doesn't convey the sense of inflated self-worth that it does in English.

There is no direct equivalent of the slang -pe suffix for augmentatives, but the well-established intensifying prefix ro-' contains something of an augmentative quality. Care should be taken with this, however, because ro-' is not necessarily fully productive, and the uses are conventional. 'Rojén', for example, isn't a word, at least, not one that means the same as 'big boss'.

Hypocorism

The formation of shortened 'pet' names or nicknames is a complete mess in Common, with a lot of variation from region to region, class to class, and even within a region or group. Be aware, however, that the NWO is a class-conscious society, and it is not a good idea to address someone with a hypocorism unless you have an equal and/or intimate relationshp with that person, and you are in an informal setting. Exercise caution.

That said, Common speakers use short forms of their names all the time. Here are just a few of the strategies you will find. These strategies tend to apply equally to both male and female names in Common.

Shortening

Shortened forms of people's names, taking practically any part of the name as the basis for the short form, much as we often see in English, is a ubiquitous strategy in Common. The short forms usually have one or two syllables. Example:

Na Lisapez → Na Lisa

Borrowed Forms

Sometimes, Common speakers will borrow a hypocorism wholesale from another language. This is most commonly observed in communities with a lot of L2 Common speakers, or with ties to non-Common-speaking communities, and tends to be localised, but a few such forms have slipped into widespread mainstream acceptance. Example:

Na Roperto → Na Peto

A nonstandard spelling form like na Roberto → na Beto might also be seen. This is an example from na Mehiko.

Borrowed Morphology

Sometimes Common will borrow productive name-forming morphology from other languages. This strategy is most common amongst the lower classes and tends to be regional. This approach is often combined with shortening. An example of borrowing is:

Na Pitter → Na Piti

The name 'na Pitter' is one Common rendering of the name Peter. The diminutive 'na Piti' combines shortening with the borrowed English -ey ending to convery diminution.

Reduplication

In Mandarin, the major strategy for forming a diminutive is to repeat the word. Mandarin has had a major impact on Common as a classical language and as an important regional lower-stratum language. The strategy of reduplication to form a diminutive first entered Common in Chinese-speaking areas and has since spread world-wide. It is often combined with shortening. An example is:

Na Cenifer → Na Cen-Cen

The duplicated element tends to be repeated as a separate word (conventionally hyphenated), so the pronunciation would be /t͡ʃen t͡ʃen/ rather than the expected /t͡ʃend͡ʒen/ if the resulting form were a compound.

Derivation with -pe

The slang diminutive suffix -pe can be used to form pet names, often combined with another strategy. For example, an extremely casual and lower-class variation on 'na Cenifer' would be 'na Cenpe' (pronounced /'t͡ʃem.be/).

Regular Diminutive or Augmentative Modifier

The use of a diminutive or augmentative modifier, even without shortening the name or employing any other strategy above, tends to result in a hypocorism, especially a diminutive. An augmentative might be preferred for an adult, whereas a child will almost always get a diminutive. Examples:

Na sinku Piti
Little Petey

Na akpe Caw
Big Zhao

Both of these would be pet names or nicknames that would not be appropriate to use except in very informal circumstances and when the person addressed doesn't outrank you, even the augmentative form. The first example combines the diminutive with another strategy, the second does not.