Realization of diminutive meanings by verbs with the suffix -el(n) in modern German

Abstract

The paper describes unprefixed diminutive verbs with the suffix -el(n) in modern German from the perspective of the interconnection between their semantics and pragmatics. The aim of the research is to identify the primary actualizations of diminutive meanings by the analyzed units. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the first attempt to thoroughly analyze the influence of a derivational affix (the German suffix -el(n)) on the development of diminutive semantics within the semantic structure of a verb. Additionally, the authors expand the understanding of the diminutiveness category by considering notions such as intensity and iterativity. As a result of conducting a corpus analysis of German verbs with the suffix -el(n) that manifest diminutive meanings, it was found that affixational means of expressing diminutiveness primarily possess a semantic nature and mainly mark the category of intentionality of verbs. It was also found that the meanings of diminutiveness in some derivatives ending in -el(n) are explicit only through various shades of attenuation, derived solely from the pragmatic content of verbal lexemes, simultaneously conveying implicit evaluative information about the action.