-ак, -ка, -енька, -ішча - the suffixes that make a word small, warm, or contemptuous, and how heavily Belarusian uses them.
I can form and read diminutive and augmentative words and judge which register they belong to.
Подивіться на ці приклади. Чи можете ви помітити граматичну закономірність?
Іх хатка стаіць на самым краі вёскі.
Their little house stands right at the edge of the village.
Сонейка ўзышло над лугам.
The sun rose over the meadow.
Пачакай крышачку, я зараз.
Wait just a moment, I will be right there.
Міхаська, ідзі вячэраць!
Michas, come and have supper!
Зверніть увагу на виділені частини. Що у них спільного?
These suffixes carry attitude far more often than dimension. Хатка is rarely a small house; it is a house spoken of fondly. Reading them as measurements will make you miss most of what is being said.
| Suffix | Gender | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ак / -ок | masculine | сын → сынок |
| -ік / -чык | masculine | стол → столік |
| -ка | feminine | хата → хатка |
| -ачка / -ечка | feminine | зорка → зорачка |
| -ца / -ейка | neuter | слова → слоўца, сонца → сонейка |
-енька / -анька / -ейка is the affectionate layer, and it stacks on top of a diminutive: сон → сонейка, маці → матулька, дзед → дзядуля. Belarusian folk song runs on these, and a text without any will read cold.
-ішча augments, usually with a rough or contemptuous edge: дом → дамішча, рука → ручышча. вецер → ветрышча. The same suffix can be admiring rather than rude - здаравіла of a strong man - and only the context tells you which.
Diminutives belong to speech, letters, songs and talking with children. In an official document or a news report they would be wrong. The mistake learners make is not overuse in conversation - it is using them in writing that should be neutral.
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу B2
Вправи для практикиTypical errors: reading a diminutive as a statement about size, and using diminutives in neutral written registers.
Reading a diminutive as a size statement
Хатка is usually affection, not dimension.
Using Russian diminutive suffixes
Сонейка, хатка, матулька.
Using diminutives in a neutral written text
They belong to speech, letters and songs.
Forming a name diminutive on the Russian pattern
Ян gives Янка and Янук, not the Russian forms.
Іх хатка стаіць на самым краі вёскі.
Their little house stands right at the edge of the village.
<em>Хатка</em> is warmth rather than measurement.
Сонейка ўзышло над лугам.
The sun rose over the meadow.
<em>Сонейка</em> - the affectionate layer, and the standard word in folk song.
Пачакай крышачку, я зараз.
Wait just a moment, I will be right there.
The suffix works on adverbs too: <em>крыха → крышачку</em>.
Міхаська, ідзі вячэраць!
Michas, come and have supper!
Names take these suffixes most freely: Міхась gives Міхаська.
Такое дамішча пабудавалі, аж вуліцу засланіла.
They built such a great hulking house it blocks the street.
<em>-ішча</em> augments with a rough edge.
Практикувати в курсі
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу B2