ABSTRACT

This chapter explores one part of Ojibwa noun derivation the semantics of diminutives. The results of this enquiry shed some interesting light both on other facets of Ojibwa noun derivation and on an aspect of lexical semantics. The range of Ojibwa noun derivation primarily involves three morphemes such as diminutive, contemptive, and pejorative. The central notion associated with diminutives is smallness. The central notion associated with contemptives is the evaluation on the part of the speaker that the referent is of little value, and the central notion associated with pejoratives is a strong negative feeling on the part of the speaker toward the referent. Any concrete Ojibwa noun can form a diminutive up to the limits of semantic compatibility. The chapter concludes Ojibwa diminutives, which are both highly productive and frequently specialized in several interesting ways, the most subtle of which involves an abstract use of the notion 'small' to compare one category of objects with a more inclusive category of objects.