Translating Latvian diminutive nouns into Estonian

Abstract

The study focuses on the translation of Latvian diminutives into Estonian. In both Latvian and Estonian, the main goal of diminutives is to express smallness, tenderness or affection, but in some cases also pejorative meaning (Erelt et al. 1995; Vulāne 2015; Kasik 2015; Kalnača 2015). Estonian translators of contemporary Latvian literature have stated that diminutive formations are widespread in the Latvian language, and that they do not translate all Latvian diminutives into corresponding Estonian equivalents. The purpose of this study is to analyse diminutives in three Latvian works of fiction: how many diminutives occur, how many of them are translated into Estonian, and how they have been translated. In Latvian, only diminutive nouns with suffixes -(t)iņ-, and -īt- were selected from the material. The research results show that Latvian diminutives are not very often translated into Estonian, and the main equivalent of the diminutive is frequently a base word. However, in the cases when the diminutive is translated, a variety of approaches can be observed.