Uteniškių ir vilniškių deminutyvai: darybos tipai ir leksemų vartojimo aktyvumas

Abstract

The article analyses the tendencies of the usage of diminutives in spoken Lithuanian as well as the productivity of their derivational types. Texts or two East Aukštaitian subdialects were compared, and the obtained results demonstrated that uteniškiai tend to use more diminutives that vilniškiai (1,9:1). The data also allows to conclude that in both subdialects diminutives aim to express the speakers' inner state rather than visual evaluation of an object or emotional relationship with the subject being discussed. The author argues that diminutives are often used to make the speakers' language more elaborate and flowery. Lithuanian cultural tradition - the sbundant use of diminutives in folk songs - might have formed this aesthetic attitude.