The diminutive nominal suffix -iñ-o / -iñ-a and its allomorph -ciñ-o / -ciñ-a in a Galician variety. Its contextualization in the Galician-Portuguese dialectal continuum

Abstract

This piece of research focuses on the diminutive nominal suffix -iñ-o / -iñ-a in the Galician variety spoken in the municipality of Castrelo do Val (Ourense), its allomorphic distribution with -ciñ-o / -ciñ-a and its etymological origin. Data from the rest of Galician varieties (including toponyms and information from some Galician corpora), and from Portuguese and Brazilian varieties were also taken into consideration for purposes of comparison with the participant observation research conducted on a specific Galician variety. Some of the data used, like toponyms and information taken from corpora, allow us to introduce a historical perspective. In this study, a dynamic concept of word formation is used, which contemplates both existing words and the possibility for speakers to potentially create new words. The main conclusion, to put it briefly, is that the suffix -iñ- is the diminutive suffix most commonly used in the Galician variety spoken in the municipality of Castrelo do Val, coinciding on this point with the rest of Galician and Northern Portuguese varieties. The Galician variety spoken in Castrelo do Val uses -ciñ- in more contexts than standard Galician does (florciña [little flower], mandilciño [little apron], peciño [little foot]), and in this respect, it is closer to Portuguese varieties spoken in the north of Beira Baixa. Lastly, the origin of Galician allomorph -ciñ- lies in an expansion of Latin elements -CINU and -ICINU