去目錄頁

Katetino or Katineto?

Betka, 2007年9月14日

讯息: 8

语言: English

Betka (显示个人资料) 2007年9月14日下午3:06:52

I am a complete beginner in Esperanto.

Anyways, yesterday I learned, that adding "in" to the noun makes it female.

Kato+ in=Katino

Today I learned that adding "et" makes a noun smaller.

Kato+et= Kateto

However, what if I wanted to say female kitty. Would it be "Katetino" or "Katineto"?

mnlg (显示个人资料) 2007年9月14日下午3:26:48

Betka:However, what if I wanted to say female kitty. Would it be "Katetino" or "Katineto"?
katetino = a female small cat
katineto = a small female cat

pick your favourite ridulo.gif

Betka (显示个人资料) 2007年9月14日下午3:32:50

Thanks. Wow, Esperanto is really flexible...

taneli (显示个人资料) 2007年9月15日下午8:05:32

mnlg:
Betka:However, what if I wanted to say female kitty. Would it be "Katetino" or "Katineto"?
katetino = a female small cat
katineto = a small female cat

pick your favourite ridulo.gif
Actually, people almost invariably pick "a small female cat" in English and "katineto" in Esperanto. (Try searching on the net and compare numbers of hits.)

Besides, the Esperanto for "a female kitten" is "katidino". ("Kitty" basically means "kitten", but it is affectionately used about any kind of cat, big or small, young or old.) There the order of the suffixes is essential; it'd be rather pointless to say "katinido", as that'd mean "a kitten of a female cat", which is exactly the same as "kitten".

RiotNrrd (显示个人资料) 2007年9月16日上午2:50:39

Betka:However, what if I wanted to say female kitty. Would it be "Katetino" or "Katineto"?
Heh. I posted this EXACT same question maybe a year or so ago, as I have a small female cat (six years old, now, so definitely not a kitten).

I always use "katetino", but I think either one will do the trick.

mnlg (显示个人资料) 2007年9月16日上午10:41:29

taneli:Actually, people almost invariably pick "a small female cat" in English and "katineto" in Esperanto.
English has a definite order for adjectives (1) so I agree with you on that one. As for esperanto, even though there can be a more common pick, my point is that in this specific case the difference is negligible. At least I am not aware of a rule on preferable order.

(1) http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/gramm...

Betka (显示个人资料) 2007年9月16日下午1:17:06

Actually, people almost invariably pick "a small female cat" in English and "katineto" in Esperanto. (Try searching on the net and compare numbers of hits.)

Besides, the Esperanto for "a female kitten" is "katidino". ("Kitty" basically means "kitten", but it is affectionately used about any kind of cat, big or small, young or old.) There the order of the suffixes is essential; it'd be rather pointless to say "katinido", as that'd mean "a kitten of a female cat", which is exactly the same as "kitten".
My cat isn't really a kitten anymore (two and a half years), but I still refer to her as "kitty", because she's so cute, and sweet. "Katetino" sounds better to me, but since "katineto" is more common, I'll use both.

Thanks for the help.

taneli (显示个人资料) 2007年9月24日上午12:11:39

mnlg:
taneli:Actually, people almost invariably pick "a small female cat" in English and "katineto" in Esperanto.
English has a definite order for adjectives (1) so I agree with you on that one. As for esperanto, even though there can be a more common pick, my point is that in this specific case the difference is negligible. At least I am not aware of a rule on preferable order.

(1) http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/gramm...
Right. In fact, I totally agree with you. I was just pointing out what people do choose, not trying to tell what they should choose. Personally, I prefer "katineto" (perhaps by analogy to "fratineto"), but I don't see any real reason to object to "katetino" either. Come to think of it, I feel "fratetino" would be an odd form, but I wouldn't call it wrong.

回到上端