EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH INTO THE USE OF DIMINUTIVES BY SLOVAK-HUNGARIAN BILINGUAL SPEAKERS

Abstract

The existence of diminutives differs among languages. This paper focuses on the use of diminutives in two languages, Slovak and Hungarian. The investigated languages represent two language families, for this reason the analysis is more comprehensive. The paper is aimed at an experimental research in the field of evaluative morphology. The examination concentrates on the number of the occurred diminutives in the speech of the mono- and bilingual participants of the research. The paper deals with the word class of the diminutives and the word formation processes of diminution as well. The goal of this paper is to prove or disprove the assumption that the Slovak-Hungarian bilingual speakers use more diminutives in Hungarian than the monolingual Hungarian speakers, because of the influence of the Slovak language which has a rich evaluative morphology.