{"id":1797,"date":"2022-04-21T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T06:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/?p=1797"},"modified":"2022-12-07T12:25:17","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T12:25:17","slug":"do-you-like-historias-em-quadrinhos-diminutives-in-brazilian-portuguese-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/2022\/04\/21\/do-you-like-historias-em-quadrinhos-diminutives-in-brazilian-portuguese-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DO YOU LIKE HIST\u00d3RIAS EM QUADRINHOS? – DIMINUTIVES IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE \u2013 PART 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

DO YOU LIKE HIST\u00d3RIAS EM QUADRINHOS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DIMINUTIVES IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE \u2013 PART 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Part 1 of our journey into diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese, we saw that -inho\/a<\/em> and -zinho\/a<\/em> are the most common \u2013 but not the only \u2013 suffixes to express the notion of smallness in Brazil, and that these diminutives can be used in a range of contexts. Indeed, diminutives are deeply rooted in the Brazilian culture and are so widely used in every aspect of life that Brazilians might even sound childish to speakers of other languages at times. If you use diminutives in English as liberally as you use them in Portuguese, it will sound like baby talk at best. No way you can say \u201cVamos pegar um cineminha e depois tomar uma cervejinha no botequim?\u201d<\/em> in English<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Brazilian adults don\u2019t perceive themselves as being childish when they speak, and maybe one of the reasons that using diminutives is second nature to them is that they are exposed to them virtually from the time they are born.<\/p>\n

When we are toddlers, we are encouraged to get some vital vaccinations by the iconic childhood character Z\u00e9 Gotinha<\/em> (\u2018Z\u00e9\u2019 is short for Jos\u00e9, and Gotinha<\/em> is the diminutive of gota<\/em>, which means \u2018a drop\u2019). Brazil\u2019s vaccine mascot is called \u201cJoe Droplet\u201d in English (even The New York Times has used this term). Just as a side note, if Z\u00e9 Gotinha<\/em> had been created in the Brazilian Literary Society (the Academia Brasileira de Letras), he might have been called \u201cZ\u00e9 Got\u00edcula\u201d (-\u00edcula\/o<\/em> is a kind of literary version of -inho\/a<\/em>).<\/p>\n

My generation spent its mornings watching TV show host Xuxa, A Ra\u00ednha dos Baixinhos <\/em>(literally, the \u201cQueen of Shorties\u201d). Baixinho <\/em>is the diminutive of \u2018baixo\u2019 (short), and because of the TV show this became an endearing way to refer to children in the 1980s. Nowadays, the term is back to its original meaning \u2013 it refers to adults who would not, for example, make it to a professional basketball team. A funny variation of baixinho<\/em> is baixote<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I grew up reading comics, including Monica\u2019s Gang, where Monica\u2019s nemesis was Cebolinha<\/em>. His name is the diminutive of cebola<\/em> (onion), and this is because of his unique hairstyle with five strands of hair springing up from the top of his head (\u2018Jimmy Five\u2019 is his name in the English-speaking world, which sounds like a very elegant solution). An addition to the Monica\u2019s Gang series was Turma do Penadinho<\/em> (Bug-a-Booo), where the creator Maur\u00edcio de Sousa availed himself of diminutives copiously: Muminho<\/em> (Moe the Mummy), Z\u00e9 Cremadinho<\/em> (Al Ashmore), Z\u00e9 Caveirinha<\/em> (Sid Skully), Alminha (Sally Soul), and Pixuquinha (Little Boy Boo). And let\u2019s not forget O Menino Maluquinho<\/em> (The Nutty Boy), by comics artist Ziraldo.<\/p>\n

I was also an avid reader of the adventures of Huguinho, Zezinho, and Luisinho in the Disney universe. You guessed right \u2013 these are Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Ironically, the nickname for Jos\u00e9 in Brazil is Zezinho, not Josezinho <\/em>(just remember \u2018Joe Droplet\u2019 above). Zezinho<\/em> rolls right off the tongue and sounds nice too, even more so in the state of Minas Gerais, where -inho<\/em> and -zinho <\/em>are often pronounced as -im<\/em> or -in <\/em>and as –zim or -zin<\/em>. Wouldn\u2019t you agree that \u2018Zezin\u2019<\/em> is even nicer?<\/p>\n

Just as a side note: Spain also chose to use the diminutive (-ito\/a<\/em> in the case of Spanish) to name Donald\u2019s nephews, calling them Jorgito, Juanito, <\/em>and Jaimito<\/em>. Argentina followed suit, using Huguito<\/em>, Dieguito,<\/em> and Luisito<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Also in the Disney universe, if you belong to my generation, chances are that you will find it really odd that Never Land\u2019s most cherished fairy is now called \u201cTinker Bell\u201d \u2013 the original English name \u2013 instead of Sininho<\/em>, her original name in Brazil.<\/em> And we have another Disney character who\u2019s been renamed in Brazil: Winnie-the-Pooh arrived here as Ursinho Puff<\/em>, and then went on to become Ursinho Pooh<\/em>. Well, at least we got to keep the diminutive!<\/p>\n

And while we are in the realm of fairies, you might notice that the names of fairy tales are quite easy to translate into Brazilian Portuguese: Little Red Hiding Hood goes by the name of Chapeuzinho Vermelho<\/em> in Brazil (they also chose a diminutive in Portugal: Capuchinho Vermelho<\/em>), the Three Little Pigs are Os Tr\u00eas Porquinhos<\/em> and The Ugly Duckling is called O Patinho Feio <\/em>by Brazilian kids.<\/p>\n

In the Looney Tunes universe, I was not a big fan of Ligeirinho<\/em> (Speedy Gonzalez) or Gaguinho<\/em> (Porky Pig), but I had loads of fun with Bugs Bunny, whose name in Brazil is more on the augmentative side: Pernalonga<\/em> (literally, \u2018long-legged\u2019). But wait, Bugs Bunny\u2019s irresistible catchphrase \u201cWhat\u2019s up, Doc?\u201d is rendered as \u201cO que \u00e9 que h\u00e1, velhinho?\u201d<\/em> (You didn\u2019t expect Bugs Bunny not to be included in the diminutive club in Brazil, did you?).<\/p>\n

Hanna Barbera brought us Batatinha <\/em>(Benny The Ball, from Top Cat), Riquinho<\/em> (Richie Rich) and Pedrita (Pebbles Flintstone)<\/em>, which literally means \u2018small stone,\u2019 with an addition to our collection of suffixes to express the diminutive: -ita<\/em>\/-ito<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I could go on and on and list a few dozen more of childhood and other characters with an \u2011inho\/a<\/em> or -zinho<\/em> name, but I will stop here for now and encourage YOU to think about other childhood character names that could be added to this list. This is not the end of our journey! I will soon share further insights into the use of diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marsel N. de Souza<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\u00a0is a full-time interpreter and translator based in Brasilia, Brazil. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree in English>Portuguese translation from the University of Brasilia and a certificate in advanced French studies from Alliance Fran\u00e7aise. He is also an ATA-certified English>Portuguese translator. He works primarily with the diplomatic and international organization community in Brasilia, but his interpreting and translation assignments have taken him to various parts of the U.K., U.S., Brazil, France, and Africa. He is a member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DO YOU LIKE HIST\u00d3RIAS EM QUADRINHOS? DIMINUTIVES IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE \u2013 PART 2   In Part 1 of our journey into diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese, we saw that -inho\/a and -zinho\/a are the most common \u2013 but not the only \u2013 suffixes to express the notion of smallness in Brazil, and that these diminutives can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog-posts","7":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1797"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1804,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797\/revisions\/1804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}